NCACPA · Member experience

Reorganizing a 15,000-member association around member goals.

NCACPA’s digital experience reflected its internal departments more clearly than the needs of its members. I led research and information-architecture work to rebuild that structure around how members looked for information, support, and opportunities to participate.

Role: Content Strategist
Domain: Professional membership
Scope: Research, information architecture, taxonomy, content strategy
Scale: 15K members

RESEARCH EVIDENCE

57 participants

Card-sort research

A 57-participant card sort tested and refined the proposed navigation structure.

CORE OUTPUT

Shared information model

Taxonomy + sitemap

Created a common model for organizing, tagging, navigating, and governing member content.

APPLIED CONCEPT

Personalized dashboard

Applied concept

Demonstrated how the shared model could support more relevant content and pathways for members.

THE CONTEXT

The website mirrored the organization chart.

NCACPA’s website had grown around departments, programs, and internal terminology. Members arrived with goals—maintaining a license, finding education, understanding a policy issue, or connecting with peers—that crossed those boundaries, requiring them to understand the organization before they could find what they needed.

Diagram showing NCACPA content divided by internal ownership and member journeys requiring navigation across several sections.

THE DECISION

Organize around member goals.

The new structure needed to reflect how members understood their work and responsibilities while still giving NCACPA’s internal teams a system they could maintain. Taxonomy, navigation, personalization, and governance had to work as connected parts of the same content system.

01Build the structure from evidence

Member and stakeholder interviews, content analysis, and a 57-participant card sort informed the navigation, taxonomy, sitemap, and approach to content ownership.

NCACPA research inputs, findings, and proposed information architecture based on member goals and shared taxonomy.

02Make relevance visible

The dashboard concept brought relevant education, resources, updates, and participation opportunities into one member entry point.

NCACPA personalized dashboard concept using shared taxonomy and member-selected topics.

WHAT CHANGED

A shared model connected content across the organization.

The proposed architecture connected content previously separated by internal ownership. Members had fewer organizational boundaries to interpret, while teams gained a consistent basis for navigation, taxonomy, personalization, and future content decisions.

BEYOND THE IA INITIATIVE

The IA work was one part of five years on a small team spanning content, community, communications, and advocacy. Across that broader scope, our work helped mobilize 500+ advocates, support four legislative wins, and increase PAC donations by 63%.

← All Work