From an immersive museum experience to a transparency hub for taxpayers, check out five digital solutions that Lifeblue is proud to have created in 2022.
Every day we work closely with our partners to set them up for success now, in the new year, and beyond.
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THE SMART TALK
1. A tool that helps families set online safety rules together.
It can be scary thinking about the access that kids have to technology. That’s where The Smart Talk comes in — it’s a free interactive tool that guides families through discussions about online safety from the National PTA and Norton security software company.
As families agree upon responses, The Smart Talk gathers their answers into a customized agreement that serves as a set of living guidelines for each child.
The Smart Talk initially launched in 2015, and this year, Lifeblue got the opportunity to oversee a major expansion and redesign, which included translation into Spanish by native speakers.
To better connect with families, we introduced more joyful, supportive moments throughout the journey, Lifeblue Producer Kenny McNett said.
“Bringing the emotion in was a real breakthrough,” Kenny said. “We need to connect with parents first because sitting down with their kid is hard. So, that’s why we designed this intro screen with confetti congratulating them for getting started. I describe this as a hug — a chance to tell parents, ‘Hey, you’re doing a good job.’”
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PARKER UNIVERSITY
2. A CMS that makes it easier for a college to publish content.
Whether it’s financial aid or requirements for a specific degree, quickly and accurately updating a university site is critical to keeping students informed.
With more than 50 staff members editing different parts of their website, Parker University, a private college focused on healthcare, needed to streamline content approval.
“Before, someone might have to send marketing a message saying, ‘Hey, can you change this paragraph?’” Kenny said.
[Read: 3 Ways to Integrate Content Marketing with Your Digital Strategy]
Like many organizations, Parker University relies on WordPress as its Content Management System (CMS). To create their ideal, customized workflow, Lifeblue developed a strategy to adapt WordPress by configuring a suite of plug-ins to work together.
“In coordination with Parker, we carefully evaluated every staff member’s needs and granted access accordingly,” Kenny said. “From there, our team made intricate modifications to the back end, simplifying not only their workflow but also every user’s editing dashboard, ensuring a smooth publishing process from beginning to end.”
We also implemented alerts that automatically trigger the marketing department so they can promptly review and approve changes.
“It’s been very convenient,” Kenny said. “They’ve been able to respond quickly to people’s revisions — that was one of their goals. They said, ‘If someone submits a revision, we don’t want it sitting around for weeks.’”
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PROCEDEO
3. A way to update taxpayers on bond-funded construction projects in real time.
When PROCEDEO was awarded management for a major bond program with 27 projects across Fort Worth ISD, they wanted to keep the public informed about progress on each of them.
The projects are part of a $1.2 billion bond package that voters approved in 2021, primarily to renovate the district’s aging middle schools. PROCEDEO turned to Lifeblue to build a site that would offer the public transparency throughout the lifecycle of these projects, Lifeblue Producer Lauren Silver said.
“Whether it’s improving a school’s air quality and lighting for staff and students, or providing jobs to local trade partners, these projects are impacting the broader Fort Worth community in many ways,” Lauren said. “Fort Worth-based PROCEDEO is dedicated to helping Fort Worth ISD keep their community informed. This website is a resource that anyone can use to see what’s happening.”
The Fort Worth ISD 2021 bond site includes an overview of the program, a map displaying each project and 27 project pages with context about scope, including budget and timeline. Trade partners can also use the site to see open vendor opportunities.
As projects advance, PROCEDEO can refresh project pages with snapshots about progress, offering technical updates in a more digestible form.
This level of transparency is a benefit that could extend to many kinds of projects.
Most recently, we created a site with similar communication goals for CORE Construction, which is building a community center near a historic area for the City of Reno — offering the public an ever-evolving progress report on this highly anticipated project.
“The idea of merging data and design to create something that easily facilitates communication and clear understanding is exciting,” Lauren said. “These hubs make this information accessible, helping our partners to stay transparent, not just to their clients, but to their clients’ stakeholders and anyone impacted.”
[Read: I‘m a Producer at Lifeblue, and Here‘s How I Unlocked My Most Effective Work Style]
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RISE AGAINST HUNGER
4. An invitation to help end hunger by packing meals as a community.
At Rise Against Hunger events, music is blasting as you create an assembly line to pack meals that are shipped directly to those in need.
The organization wanted its site to reflect the need for hands-on support, Lifeblue Producer J.D. Busch said.
“Unlike other nonprofits that survive only on donations, Rise Against Hunger also heavily relies on volunteerism and activism,” J.D. said. “A cornerstone of who they are is that organizations, churches and other community groups can schedule events to get involved in real life — packing the meals that will be shipped overseas.”
To convey that need, the Lifeblue team used action-oriented voice and tone throughout the Rise Against Hunger site to bring donors into the story and join their movement.
That extended to the brand’s visual expression, too.
“We helped shape and create illustrations to give them something unique that feels more a bit more handcrafted — that has a grassroots feel to it,” J.D. said. “Then, you can get straight into how you can be involved based on where you’re at and what you’re able to provide so, making that personal connection was really important.”
[Read: For a Better Digital World, Put Caring Over Coding]
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COUNTRY MUSIC HALL OF FAME
5. An immersive experience that brings a museum to life.
As you walk into the Country Music Hall of Fame, you enter a cavernous space where artifacts — ranging from glitzy outfits to a wall of gold records — are not only preserved but celebrated.
That vastness deserved to be represented online so people around the world could experience a sense of wonder for themselves. In addition to implementing TurnStyle, a Lifeblue product enabling visitors to choose ticket packages and benefits, our team was tasked with creating a new website for the museum known as “the house that holds the music.”
“The scale and attention to detail blew us away,” J.D. said. “You’re walking through all kinds of modern architectural elements, and it’s divided into spaces where you could spend hours. So, we wanted it to make it feel much grander and more immersive.”
[Read: How Our Partnership with Hatch Show Print Helped a Brand Grow into the Spotlight]
Our team tapped into the art of content simplification — streamlining 500+ pages of content into a more condensed but more impactful representation of the museum experience.
For visitors in a hurry, we added a map of the museum alongside basic information right from the navigation menu — as is a button to purchase tickets.
While those looking to spend more time on the site can enjoy deeper storytelling enhanced with dazzling imagery and videos.
“The culture of the museum is about caring and protecting country music, so people understand it beyond their initial perception,” J.D. said. “They make connections and shed light on stories people haven’t heard to paint a more nuanced representation of this rich genre.”
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