Southern Foresters

Clearing the way for improved usability

Finding relevant information on the old SGSF website was a challenge due to the omission of important pages from the website’s menu. Visitors were instead expected to find those seemingly hidden pages by culling links within body copy. An important section of the site, dedicated to wildfires and fire management, contained 32 individual subpages, none of which appeared within the structure of the navigation.

A stale design

SGSF brings forestry experts together to collaborate and study tough problems that cross state borders. Each coalition member benefits from the combined knowledge and experience of the others, especially when it comes to adopting new technology and management practices. The existing design failed to live up to those lofty requirements. The new design would need to correct this problem by announcing SGSF’s role as a leader in readying forests for an uncertain future, and present the organization’s policy perspectives – in an engaging, credible way – to highly knowledgeable readers and decision-makers.

Uncovering hidden content

Taproot’s content-first approach to redesigning SouthernForests.org added new, user-friendly features and addressed the site’s spotty navigation. We leveraged historical user behavior on the site, as well as the coalition’s strategic priorities, to inform the design process. That process then lead to the creation of an interface that visibly promoted relevant news stories and events that foster a sense of community and teamwork among forestry professionals. Additionally, access to critical information like the latest position papers and guest articles by practicing foresters no longer require heady searches through paragraphs of content to hunt down relevant links.

Taproot revamped how the site handles events and campaigns. Moving away from a complicated calendar system, we built a flexible landing page template that SGSF can repurpose ad infinitum for initiatives, conferences and other forms of community engagement. It’s now much easier for visitors to get details about upcoming activities and for staff to readily keep event information up-to-date. 

A forest-forward design

Taproot designed a fully custom interface that suits SGSF’s position as a leader in forest management and policy. To achieve this, we introduced new colors and design motifs to the site’s palette to mirror the hues and textures found in a southern forest setting. We also introduced naturalistic graphics that strengthen the site’s visual kinship with the forest and wildland agency design tradition. We meticulously selected photos and graphics that are authentic representations of southern forests, closely vetting each choice with the client team.