Re-platforming a custom web application & UX enhancements
Reinventing the online community experience for Starlight teens
Overview
Livewire is an online community created by Starlight Children’s Foundation to connect teens living with a serious illness. Livewire provides access to inspirational and entertaining content and a full suite of community tools for them to meet new friends, share experiences, creatively express themselves and connect with people in similar situations. Active members of the platform log in regularly.
While the delivery and impact of the Livewire program continues to be a success, Starlight wanted to optimise the overall user experience of the online platform to meet the ongoing needs of this community of young people.
Problem
Technical support and enhancements to their custom web application so that it can operate seamlessly into the future
Solution
Re-platform Livewire to a more robust technology infrastructure (WordPress). Make significant improvements to the UX and UI of the program. Make the online delivery platform mobile responsive, more accessible and generally more intuitive.
Results
It is easier for its members to navigate and engage with the program and is able to handle the demands of increasing membership.
The Challenge
Livewire was first launched in 2008 providing its members with a sense of belonging to a highly relevant and closed community of people who are in a similar situation to them.
To continue to provide an engaging and supportive environment for its young audience, Starlight needed a digital partner to provide the technical support and enhancements to their custom web application so that it can operate seamlessly into the future. They also needed a digital partner that understood user experience so that the platform can continually improve and meet the needs of its users.
The Solution
As Starlight’s digital partner, we re-platformed Livewire to a more robust technology infrastructure (WordPress) so the program can continue to expand across Australia and New Zealand.
Moving the platform to WordPress led to a lot of operational efficiencies that saved Starlight time and empowered their teams to more effectively manage the platform including backend management of program content and member registrations.
As experts in WordPress, we ensured the migration had minimal disruption to both the community members and the Starlight program admin team who continue to actively monitor and keep the community a safe and secure online forum for members to access at home or whilst in the hospital.
To meet the needs of Starlight’s Livewire members, who are predominantly young people, we made significant improvements to the UX and UI of the program by taking inspiration from key tools and functions of Facebook; a platform most young people are very familiar with. We made the online delivery platform mobile responsive, more accessible and generally more intuitive.
We added further engagement tools to the platform that Starlight members are familiar with including; status updates, reaction icons, private/group messaging and gaming functions to further promote engagement and retention of active members.
The Results
Overall, the improved UX of Starlight’s Livewire platform makes it easier for its members to navigate the platform and ultimately engage with the program.
Livewire continues to be a fit-for-purpose, secure online community program that runs efficiently under a robust infrastructure and will be able to handle the demands of increasing membership.
