Website Redesign for a Leading Research-Clinical Consortium

RAI Lab’s faculties are affiliated with the Departments of Radiology, Biomedical Engineering, Electrical and Computer Engineering, and Physics, the Medical Physics Graduate Program, and the Clinical Imaging Physics Group (CIPG) at Duke University. The lab needed the new website to replacing one that was on a legacy system that was about to be shuttered. Every website our team builds goes through an extensive website design process. This project was no different. During kickoff, we set up project management tools, organized shared folders, aligned communication channels, and confirmed responsibilities with the client’s team. In discovery, we conducted a structured review of all existing content, design assets, audience needs, and compared direct and indirect competitors to identify patterns that would guide the new site’s design and structure. Our research informed the information architecture, content hierarchy, and early navigation drafts. We grounded the design direction in real user behavior rather than assumptions.

As we entered the design and development process, we provided design deliverables in stages. Each deliverable was an opportunity for the client’s team to provide feedback and ask questions. As we received that feedback we integrated it into our solution and provided the client with the revisions to review again. Once we had sign-off on the design, we began development. The goal of development is to deliver a fully functional website that matches the approved design. Our team focuses on four core principles: usability, accessibility, scalability, and maintainability. Accessibility is critical part of our website design and development service for the university programs. During an extensive QA phase at the end of development, our team completes device testing, browser compatibility checks, and accessibility audits. Our approach to the website project life cycle ensured that Duke’s website was complete, approved by the leadership, and ready to go live on launch day.

We rebuilt the site on the university’s Sites@Duke WordPress platform to replace the legacy system that was being retired. It also gave program staff a stable, easy‑to‑manage system that fits naturally into Duke’s existing infrastructure. Our team also integrated the university program with university tools such as Scholars @ Duke. Scholars @ Duke allowed the website to dynamically bring staff profiles and publications to the website. This allows staff to edit their data from a single location and have it propagate across the university system.

We implemented GA4, Google Tag Manager, and Search Console, tailored to the site’s structure, allowing the client to monitor user behavior across all integrated services with accuracy. The result was a connected system where every external platform functioned as part of a unified website ecosystem.

We typically provide hosting services across two primary environments: the development environment and the live website. For this project, our approach was slightly different. Hosting was provided by the university, and while a staging environment was available, it was managed by Duke University rather than our team.

Instead, our responsibility was to ensure the website fully complied with the university’s technical and security requirements so it could integrate seamlessly with their hosting infrastructure. We closely followed all required protocols and collaborated with Duke University’s IT department to schedule audits, reviews, and pre-launch checks. This coordination ensured the website transitioned smoothly from the development environment to the live environment.

After launch, we verified that all integrations, analytics tools, and platform connections were functioning correctly in production. University systems operate under strict technical and security standards to protect against threats, and our agency has extensive experience working within these environments. We regularly partner with organizations of all sizes, including higher education institutions, to ensure full compliance with university hosting guidelines while delivering stable, secure, and reliable websites.

Duke University has strong brand guidelines. Our agency redesigned the lab’s brand identity while staying fully aligned with Duke University’s design system. We crafted a unique look and feel that gave the lab it’s own story. Our team created a unified design system, pairing the logo with appropriate colors, typography, iconography, and layouts so they flowed seamlessly throughout the new website. As part of the project, we provided comprehensive graphic design services for the university lab, auditing existing brand assets, colors, and typography to ensure they met accessibility standards and maintained high visual quality across devices. In addition to the website design, we supported image optimization, image editing, and graphic design needs.

By developing the website’s design system in close coordination with the overall brand identity, we ensured users experienced a unified and recognizable brand,  whether they engaged with the organization online, on social media, in print, or through other communications.

To keep ongoing support simple and effective, we gave Duke’s team direct access to our team through email for documentation, chat for quick questions, and Zoom for more in-depth discussions. Shared project spaces and scheduled check-ins made it easy for their team to request updates, track progress, and get timely answers. We make website support and maintenance simple for university programs.

Our support continued well beyond launch. We provided clear documentation and hands-on training so the team could confidently post and manage content. The same experts who designed and built the website remain responsible for ongoing updates, ensuring consistency and quality. Every project includes a comprehensive support package covering security updates, plugin and theme maintenance, uptime monitoring, and performance checks. We ensure the website remains stable as new content is added, pages are modified, and code dependencies receive updates.