Centralis chosen for multi-phase UX research and design initiative by The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)

EVANSTON – Centralis is partnering with The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) on a multi-phase research and design effort that will inform a major redesign of their main website PCUSA.org. PC(USA)’s decision to partner with Centralis came after an in-depth vendor evaluation in which multiple prospects were considered. In the end, PC(USA) felt that Centralis had most clearly demonstrated an understanding of the Church’s goals and challenges and outlined a comprehensive approach to address them.

“With regard to the website, the results are clear: Presbyterians want a better website based on users’ needs,” says Kathy Francis, the Presbyterian Mission Agency’s Senior Director of Communications. “We take that input seriously. [This research] will delve even deeper, which we consider an integral step toward building a better website.”[1]

In phase one, Centralis will conduct usability test sessions among Presbyterian Church leaders and members to accurately assess the current state of the PC(USA) website. Phase two will consist of a card sorting activity to gain insight into users’ expectations of how the site’s content should be organized and prioritized. The unique needs of congregational and presbytery leaders who serve Spanish- and Korean-speaking congregations will also be explored.

Drawing on its research findings, Centralis will design a new user-centered information architecture and nomenclature system. The proposed information architecture will then be evaluated in online target-finding tests to gauge how easily users can locate the information they need.

The project is scheduled to begin in early November 2019 and will be led by Senior UX Specialist Andrea Henry, PhD and UX Specialist Mauricio Ubach. You can read more about this project in a recent issue of the Presbyterian News.

[1] Mike Ferguson, Revamping the PC(USA) website will rely heavily on user input (Louisville: Presbyterian News Service, 2019)