Digital experiences that get results
Innovative design methods and trusted technologies—
implemented by an expert team.
Client results
We work with organizations whose online channels are critical to their success.
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Ecommerce with style
Art Institute of Chicago
Design, strategy, email and online advertising, and technology for one of the top museum shops.
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Connecting 100 Resilient Cities
The Rockefeller Foundation
Enabling efficient exchange of experience as cities face the effects of globalization, urbanization, and climate change.
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Harnessing artificial intelligence
NexLP
Overhauling the user experience of a vastly powerful AI engine for legal discovery.
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Studying change in ocean chemistry
NERACOOS
Facilitating online collaboration among policy makers, industry leaders, and researchers on ocean and coastal acidification.
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Highlighting how transit supports businesses
Transit Means Business
A collection of benefits and real-world case studies from companies making positive transit-based decisions.
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Comparing foster care trends
The Chronicle of Social Change
A national state-by-state count of foster homes and families
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Helping leaders manage drinking water
Drinking Water 1-2-3
A guide for leaders to better understand and proactively address their area's drinking water needs.
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Showcasing a community
Village of River Forest
Crafting a fresh presence based on community input and real-world use cases.
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Exploring housing strategies
Regional Housing Solutions
Presenting new research on housing strategies and solutions in the Chicago area.
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More than doubling fundraising
Wikipedia
Making donation forms more persuasive based on insights from usability testing and analytics.
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Visualizing complex data
Vera Institute of Justice
Policymakers and researchers can compare 40 years of county and state incarceration trends.
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Visualizing impact of local banking
Mighty Deposits
Helping a bold startup from the University of Chicago accelerator explain the value of local banking through data.
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Reinventing Chicago’s second coast
Chicago River Edge Ideas Lab
A showcase of ideas for revitalizing areas along the Chicago River
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Focusing on innovation in energy
CTE Global
Analyzing every aspect of customer communications with a lens of alignment with business goals.
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Enabling global perspectives
Associated Colleges of the Midwest
Connecting educators and learners to advance liberal arts education globally.
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Photo: Haakon Hop
Arctic scientists sharing knowledge
IARPC Collaborations
Multi-country research results, events, goals, and collaboration opportunities.
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Photo: Flickr user MC4 Army
Simplifying complex ordering
A Fortune 100 company
A drug-ordering design—based on extensive user research—makes the process easier and pharmacists happier.
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Connecting sustainability experts
Urban Sustainability Directors Network
Learning from others speeds the pace of innovation in this group of North American environmental professionals.
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Supporting a startup end-to-end
Benevolent
Partnering on concept development, design, and technology for social good.
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Comparing juvenile justice stats
Juvenile Justice, Geography, Policy, Practice & Statistics
Tracking change in the US juvenile justice system landscape with detailed analyses of each state’s policies.
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Defining a communications plan
Metropolitan Planning Council
Reaching consensus on communication strategies through a cooperative process. The website publishing system supports editorial review and approval.
“advanced data visualization”
When we launched the Incarceration Trends Project we needed a technology partner that understood the nuances of justice system data and had the tools to develop an advanced data visualization. With Webitects, we had a partner that worked tirelessly with us to develop a product that shed new light on the outsized growth of jails in every American county.
—Christian Henrichson, Research Director, Sentencing and Corrections, Vera Institute of Justice
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Working together for 2+ years
Design methods
Good design is about solving problems. For many years, we have used and created innovative ways to ensure that a website, application, or process performs well for its intended purpose.
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Learning about audience motivations
One-on-one interviews—using open-ended questions and conducted by experienced design researchers—reveal audience needs that will help separate your product or service from the pack or innovate in a new market.
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Observing workers doing their jobs
Watching how people do their jobs is very revealing. For instance, gaps in call center software can be discovered by examining the sticky notes that workers attach to their cubicle walls to help them do their work. Observing can also suggest ways to improve knowledge sharing, workflow, and even marketing messaging.
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Involving leadership
It’s important that the “right hand know what the left hand is doing.” That’s why we involve “C-level” decision-makers right from the start. Ongoing communication helps create designs that support business goals and organizational culture and get buy-in from leadership.
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Testing usability
We sit a typical audience member down in front of your website (or other product), give them a set of tasks to perform, and ask them to tell us what they’re thinking as they do the tasks. This process reveals problems with user interfaces, suggests ways to improve them, and can even glean marketing insights. It also settles arguments about what’s effective and what’s not.
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Optimizing across channels
These days, effective communication across multiple channels—website, search engine, targeted email, social media, and online advertising—must be creative, nuanced, and consistent. Our many years of experience in a variety of situations can help you figure this out.
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Tailoring interfaces for every platform
Success means providing audiences with easy-to-use, intuitive experiences no matter what screen size or device they use. To ensure this, we conduct extensive testing using a wide variety of devices, screen sizes, and an extensive library of device simulators.
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Classifying content using card sorting
A card sort is an exercise conducted with small groups of typical website users in order to learn where they expect to find particular types of content. This knowledge helps us develop an intuitive information architecture and supporting design.
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Formulating and supporting a content strategy
A smart organization creates content within a strategy that will advance its business goals. Strategies are very different for selling consumer products, sharing knowledge, or running a political campaign. We will help you create a strong content strategy and will build the supporting publishing tools.
“beautifully designed”
Webitects knows how to take a client’s idea and make it even better. . . They take the time to help their clients clarify their goals. They deliver products that are beautifully designed as well as intuitive to use and maintain. Plus: they are really fun to work with!
—Mandy Burrell Booth, Former Communications Director, Metropolitan Planning Council
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Working together for 18+ years
Technology platforms
A suite of flexible platforms underlies technology that is tailored for each project, when an off-the-shelf approach won’t do.
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Knowledge sharing
A secure, customizable, web application designed so networks of people who are working on similar problems can easily share their experiences, documents, ideas, and events.
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Member management
Manage membership applications and directories, including automated renewals. Handle event registrations and attendee lists. Flexible table assignments with attendee input. Abstract submissions with reviews and grading. Integrated payment processing.
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Data visualization
Interactive visualizations, including business dashboards—crafted with industry-leading frameworks—bring out the stories hidden in the data.
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Email templates and audience segmentation
Audiences can be segmented by purchase amount, category, time, promotional code and type, responses to Adwords campaigns, geography, and any combination of the above. Choose a template, crop images, write copy, and send. Lists can be randomized for testing.
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Content management
Staffs are very productive with our intuitive content management system. It’s extensible, flexible, and has editorial workflow with permissions.
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E-commerce
Desktop and mobile platforms with measurable, intuitive, checkout workflows. PCI-compliant.
Integration with trusted technologies
“a firm pulse on the industry”
They methodically approach each project with enthusiasm and efficiency. Every resolution is fact based and incorporates the client’s needs, and in our case, customer buying behaviors. They are talented individuals with a firm pulse on the industry.
—Sarah Raettig, Director of Website Operations, The Art Institute of Chicago
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Working together for 15+ years
Leadership team
Our team of experts work closely together to get the best results possible.
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Paul Baker
Founder
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Billy Belchev
President
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Bill Gatewood
CEO
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Sandra Botello
UX Tester
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Rich Roslund
Cloud Architect
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Nick Rougeux
Design Director
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Kobe Snyder
Senior Software Engineer
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Anna-Marie Tamayo
Senior Integration Architect
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Michael Tan Liao
Software Engineer
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Vincent Tan Liao
Senior Developer
“a valuable and fun experience”
Working with Webitects to design our website from scratch was a valuable and fun experience. We arrived with a vision, and after careful research, helpful storyboards, and a well-planned roll-out, we watched that vision become a reality. I can’t imagine working with a better team.
—Sara Bowden, Executive Team Leader, IARPC Collaborations,
White House Office of Science and Technology Policy
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Working together for 3+ years
Let’s talk
Ask a question or tell us about your project.