If you’re familiar with the Federal space, you’ve likely heard of The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). However, you’re just as unlikely to be aware of the depth and breadth of the work this branch of the Commerce Department does. NOAA’s recent Drupal-based site redesign seeks to remedy this problem.
NOAA has an extensive suite of services and areas of accountability. From daily weather forecasts, severe storm warnings, and climate monitoring to fisheries management, coastal restoration, and supporting marine commerce, NOAA’s products and services support economic vitality and affect more than one-third of America’s gross domestic product. NOAA’s work touches the lives of every American, but their mandate of “protecting lives and livelihoods” of every American hasn’t been widely understood or appreciated.
This problem has been compounded by a fragmented web experience. Literally hundreds of niche sites designed, developed, and managed by varying groups within the agency on multiple platforms cause confusion for those trying to understand NOAA’s full suite of offerings. Above all, the flagship site, NOAA.gov, lacked focus, purpose, and vision, offering no insight into the importance and variety of NOAA’s work.
Join the creative team from Threespot, NOAA Communications & Office of the CIO, and Drupal developers Freeflow Digital in a joint presentation that tackles the complexity and volume of factors that confound the speed of strategic change in the federal Web communications space. We’ll discuss the strategic, organizational, creative, operational, and technical challenges we encountered in our three-and-a-half-year odyssey to move from initial conversations to launch of the new NOAA.gov, and how we navigated (no pun intended) those challenges to deliver the new site this past February, taking the first steps in a multi-year process of agency-wide digital transformation.