Case Study
Springfield Church of Christ
Overview
Project Overview
What began as a website redesign became a decade-long technology partnership. As SCC's de facto technology advisor, I led a full UX redesign and digital strategy, integrated a networked security camera system, managed and upgraded network infrastructure, advised on three computer replacements, and built a live streaming capability — alongside the church's AV team — that kept the congregation connected through illness, distance, and COVID-19.
The technical foundation evolved in step. I inherited the site on WordPress, moved it to Wix for design flexibility, then rebuilt it by hand in VS Code — version-controlled on GitHub and deployed on Netlify.
Swipe
The Challenge
First-time visitors couldn't find essential information. Service times, beliefs, and events required multiple clicks with no CTAs guiding next steps — and the digital challenges ran deeper than the website.
- Low digital engagement limited outreach and community growth
- Inconsistent event participation with no digital conversion path
- Website and social media operated in silos
- No live streaming capability, leaving services inaccessible to remote or ill congregants
- Aging, unmanaged network infrastructure inadequate for modern digital demands
- Outdated hardware with no clear procurement or replacement strategy
- No security camera system for facility monitoring
- Limited budget and volunteer support across every initiative
The Process
Research & Planning
Analytics showed high drop-off on key pages. Heatmaps revealed hesitation in primary navigation. Task-based walkthroughs confirmed visitors could find information — but it took too many steps.
- Critical information buried beneath layered navigation
- Dense text reduced readability and engagement
- No consistent CTA hierarchy guided user journeys
- Social traffic lacked a defined conversion path
Site Map — Before & After
The existing site had evolved organically over years of incremental updates, resulting in redundant sermon and video paths, duplicate event listings, and inconsistent labeling. The redesign began by mapping the full existing structure, identifying the friction points, then proposing a simplified hierarchy built around two primary user goals.
5 top-level nav items · inconsistent depth (2–4 levels) · redundant sermon and video paths · no dedicated first-time visitor entry point
Three core problems drove the restructure: content was duplicated across multiple nav paths, first-time visitors had no clear entry point, and the 'Watch Online' journey required too many clicks to reach.
6 top-level nav items · max 2-click depth · single path to each destination · two distinct user journeys supported
Consolidated livestream access
Watch Live appears once — not scattered across two separate nav branches.
New Here as a dedicated path
First-time visitors get a direct route to service times, beliefs, and visit planning.
Sermons replaces Messages
Consistent, expected labeling eliminates the ambiguity of the old "Messages" / "Past Messages" split.
Events centralized
Calendar and Upcoming merged into a single Events destination.
Reduced navigation depth
All key content reachable within 2 clicks of the homepage.
Two journeys, one structure
First-time visitors and returning members both served without structural compromise.
This structure became the foundation for both the wireframe exploration and the final design. Every layout decision in the wireframes maps back to this hierarchy.
Process at a Glance
| Phase | Activities | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| Discovery | Analytics review, heatmap analysis, task-based walkthroughs | Identified visitor friction points |
| IA & Navigation | Navigation restructure, CTA hierarchy, mobile-first layout | Reduced clicks to critical info |
| Accessibility | WCAG contrast, simplified nav, readable typography | Improved usability for older users |
| Iteration | Ongoing analytics review, content updates, streaming build | 78% traffic growth, 2× event attendance |
Wireframe Exploration
Before committing to any visual design, I explored three distinct layout structures — each built around a different hypothesis about the primary user goal. All three were built at 1440px desktop width using only rectangles, text labels, and spacing. No color, no imagery, no styling decisions.
Variation A
Broadcast-first
Tests whether a full-bleed hero with centered copy and dual CTAs is enough to orient a first-time visitor and drive action above the fold.
Variation B
Information-forward
Tests whether a split hero and persistent sidebar can serve both new and returning visitors simultaneously without sacrificing either experience.
Variation C
Story-driven
Tests whether an editorial, narrative-first layout builds enough trust with a skeptical first-time visitor before asking them to commit to a visit.
Variation C was selected as the foundation for the final design. The alternating section rhythm, single-CTA hero, and narrative flow aligned most closely with what research revealed about the site's primary audience — first-time visitors who needed to understand who the church was before they would consider showing up.
Mobile Navigation Exploration
Mobile users were identified as the primary audience for first-time visitors — most people search for a church on their phone Sunday morning. Two distinct navigation patterns were explored at 390px, each with two states shown to demonstrate interaction behavior.
Variation M1
Hamburger Nav
Tests whether the familiar hamburger pattern gives first-time visitors enough confidence to find service times and plan a visit without friction.
Default state — hero + trust strip visible
Drawer open — all 5 links + CTAs accessible
Variation M2
Bottom Tab Bar
Tests whether surfacing Sermons as a dedicated tab destination increases watch engagement and positions the church as a media-forward congregation.
Home tab — compact hero, sermon + event visible
Sermons tab — dedicated browse experience
Variation M1 was carried forward. Research showed that first-time visitors were coming to the site with a specific question — when do you meet, and where — not to browse sermons. The hamburger pattern keeps the homepage focused on that conversion without the tab bar's structural commitment to four fixed destinations.
Design System
Formalized in 2026 to document the design decisions that have emerged and evolved across 16 years of iteration. Brand colors, neutrals, and typography were defined to ensure visual consistency across all pages.
The Solution
Before & After
The original site was an information repository, not a communication tool. Every page competed for equal attention, navigation assumed users already knew what they were looking for, and there was no hierarchy.
- 112-item navigation with no hierarchy; all items given equal weight regardless of visitor intent.
- 2No primary CTA anywhere on the page. A first-time visitor had no guided next step.
- 3Two competing columns of dense text gave the page no visual anchor or reading order.
- 4Service times buried below the fold, requiring scrolling to find the most-sought information.
- 16-item navigation organized around visitor intent, not internal church structure.
- 2Two persistent CTAs in the header (Give, Watch Live) plus dual hero CTAs (Join Us Live, Plan Your Visit) visible without scrolling.
- 3Building as the hero: the church itself is the first thing visitors see, overlaid with clear typographic hierarchy and the tagline.
- 4Prayer request surfaced prominently as a dedicated banner, giving a pastoral touchpoint priority placement above the fold.
Designing the Solution
The redesign focused on three user journeys: planning a visit, understanding beliefs, and discovering events. Wireframes validated structure before implementation. The solution extended well beyond the website.
- Service times brought above the fold; "Plan Your Visit" as the primary CTA
- Long-form content broken into scannable, human sections
- Mobile-first layouts reflecting actual traffic patterns
- Accessible color contrast and simplified navigation throughout
- Networked camera security system installed and integrated
- Hardware advisory for three computer replacements
- Network assessment and infrastructure upgrades
- AV/streaming pipeline built with the church's Audio and Video team
Key Decisions & Tradeoffs
Simplifying the nav. Analytics consistently showed older users — SCC's primary demographic — hesitating and dropping off. I reduced, clarified, and surfaced the most critical paths.
Reducing content density. Several pages were digitized paper documents. Restructuring into scannable sections meant prioritizing comprehension over completeness.
Prioritizing "Plan Your Visit." Multiple CTAs competed for prominence. Stakeholder input confirmed new visitor attendance as the primary goal.
Building streaming infrastructure under pressure. When COVID-19 suspended in-person services, the church had no digital capability. I helped design and implement a live streaming workflow that prioritized reliability over sophistication.
Results
This project reinforced that effective UX is about prioritization, not expansion. Aligning analytics, user behavior, and business goals evolved the website from an information hub into a structured engagement tool.
Sixteen years is an unusually long time to work with any client — longer still for a website. What this partnership demonstrated, more than any single launch or metric, is that UX is a discipline of ongoing attention rather than a one-time intervention. Springfield Church of Christ had no dedicated tech staff, a modest budget, and a congregation with real needs. That combination forced a kind of clarity: every decision had to earn its place, because there was no room for the gratuitous. The work that survived wasn't the most sophisticated — it was the most considered. If good design is the elimination of everything that doesn't need to be there, this project was sixteen years of that practice.