Case study
Website for North Branch Works
North Branch Works is a membership-supported nonprofit that has promoted balanced, job-creating economic development along the North Branch of the Chicago River for 40 years.
Its loans, training grants, business development programs, real estate listings and job board needed a website that busy business owners could find their way around, and that staff could keep up to date themselves.
- Client
- North Branch Works, Chicago
- Deliverable
- WordPress website
- Role
- Strategy, design & development
01 — Challenge
More than ten programs, one busy audience
Business owners arrive with one question: what can North Branch Works do for me? The previous homepage led with large skyline photography and broad headlines, so the programs, the news and the reasons to join sat further down the page.
02 — Strategy
Lead with what members get
I rebuilt the homepage around the questions visitors actually arrive with: what's happening in the neighborhood, what membership gets you, and which program fits your business. A newsletter sign-up sits at the top, the benefits of joining are spelled out in three plain words, and a wall of partner logos shows who's already involved.
Every program now lives under one menu, named the way the organization talks about it.
03 — Design
Sturdy enough for phone snapshots
Like most small nonprofits, North Branch Works doesn't have a library of professional photos. So the design leans on bold blue and green panels, clear type and simple icons, and it still looks finished when a news post arrives with a quick snapshot from an event.
04 — Outcome
Still doing its job, years later
Built on WordPress, the site has carried North Branch Works' news, events and programs since 2022, with the team publishing new stories every few weeks.
Have a project like this?
Let's talk about who you're trying to reach and what you need them to understand. Send me an email at hello@piyawillwerth.com.