Introducing the new Kauffman.org

A gif of an animation from the Kauffman site featuring a few very stylized blue-toned people climbing around large white bricks and waving at each other

Alley is excited to announce the launch of the newly redesigned kauffman.org! It’s been a privilege to work with the team at the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation.

The Kauffman Foundation is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to “build and support programs that improve education, boost entrepreneurship, and help their hometown of Kansas City thrive.”  Alley was delighted to have the opportunity to help them further their mission by working with the team at Kauffman to fully migrate from Sitecore to a WordPress multisite installation. 

A screenshot from the Kauffman search interface showing the results for the term "entrepreneurship" with the search term highlighted in yellow in the results previews
Kauffman.org’s search page with results highlighting keywords

We were able to use the unique functionality available in Elasticsearch and our own plugin SearchPress to provide excerpts of matching text and term highlighting. Visitors can now search for content using relevant keywords and results will display with helpful information. That way, visitors can find the content they are looking for quickly and confidently. 

Organizations like Kauffman that have extensive libraries of content often face complicated taxonomy and organizational challenges. We were able to help create hierarchies that facilitated their editorial process. We also standardized searchable metadata so audiences could more easily surface articles on their own. We used WordPress and Gutenberg’s functionality to build out features that allows the editorial team to highlight related content in an article. Now readers can find more relevant information while they’re on site.

A screenshot displaying an example floating block resting to the right of the main column of content with an image of the report cover and a blurb
Article page displaying a floating block that can be used to display, and link to further reading.

Along with a full migration of all their content and data, we worked together to redesign their site. The new design optimizes performance and creates a clean user interface that delights their audience and visitors.

One large image of footprints with the text "Our Bootstrap Obsession" next to two smaller images and article blurbs
Screenshot of Kauffman.org’s “Currents” page.

Developing in Gutenberg allowed us to deploy several custom blocks that shine in their redesign. Streamlining their content and articles to emphasize important information, highlight related resources, and improve their audience’s experience. We also built-in several custom animations that bring their brand identity front and center to visitors. This helps create a consistent brand image across their entire platform. Alongside the Kauffman team, we developed high-fidelity animations while optimizing site performance and readability across browsers, devices, and screens. 

It’s always exciting to be able to use our experience in web design and development to help further the missions of organizations like the Kauffman Foundation. Check out their newly launched website at Kauffman.org. Let us know on Twitter if you have any questions about the redesign!