YMCA of Western North Carolina Case Study
What They Needed
The previous website was developed in 2010 on Drupal 6 when the organization didn’t have a centralized marketing team. Due to the high staff turnover and a lack of consistent training and oversight, the site had become unwieldy and hard to navigate. The redesign was a daunting task, and the organization’s small in-house team decided that they couldn’t manage a project of this scope alone.
There were several focal points for this project. Firstly, the Y wanted to improve its web presence as a sales tool and enhance its community positioning. Secondly, they needed to reduce web development costs and risks by moving the website onto an open platform. Thirdly, they were looking to take advantage of new features in Drupal, including easy-to-add content management. They then wanted to enhance site functionality with key technical integrations, including support for online transactions. Finally, they looked to reduce their technical burden with a clean, new site for easier maintenance in the future.
How We Helped
The organization had identified that they wanted to move onto a Drupal-based platform and were looking for a development company that understood the Y movement, had Drupal expertise, and could function as an extension of their marketing communications team.
In addition to handling the project startup and management, ImageX provided discovery, design, and web development services. The initial project—the redesign of the main website—began in May 2017 and concluded in October 2017. The scope expanded to include a standalone website for the Y’s overnight camp. This work began in November 2017 and concluded six weeks later.
The project startup included a kickoff meeting, creating the work breakdown schedule, and setting up task-tracking and communication tools.
The ImageX project manager was responsible for planning and task scheduling, issue management and escalation, budget monitoring, and status reporting. The project featured stages of agile development in which the team prioritized the scope in defined, time-limited sprints.
During the discovery phase of the project, ImageX fleshed out information which was shared and tailored the deployment of YMCA Website Services (formerly Open Y) to fit goals and priorities. We also assisted with user-centric design, information architecture, and wireframing to ensure a strong UX for the end product.
In the first development stage, ImageX implemented a foundational web server and CMS infrastructure based on Drupal 8 and the YMCA Website Services (formerly Open Y) distribution and assisted with media and content migrations. The client’s internal team worked on content updates and images. ImageX performed regular quality-assurance (QA) checks, including design QA, multiple-browser compatibility, and usability testing. For the second stage, we implemented prioritized enhancements to the website and worked with third parties to configure integrations.
Words from
the client
“We didn’t just build a website together; we built a relationship that has strengthened over time and will contribute to the long-term success of our organization. We needed a full-time partner who could hit the ground running while preserving our priorities and values. ImageX did not disappoint. They became virtual team members who were always there for us. Their willingness to listen and think through challenges, rather than trying to apply instant fixes, resulted in a custom website that exceeded our expectations.”
The Results
The association website has experienced 152% growth in page views since launching, and the average session duration lengthened by 22%. Total page views on the overnight camp website (which was formerly a set of subpages on the association site) have increased by 129%; the average session duration rose by 340%.
The new camp website has also been a factor in enrollment growth. The client reached 75% of their goal within eight weeks of launching—four months earlier than the year before.
Page views (main site)
Average session duration (main site)
Page views (camp site)
Average session duration (camp site)
