Royal Pharmaceutical Society launches new website

The Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) website has been given a major upgrade. Launched on 30 March 2017, the new site is designed to offer a clean, modern layout; simpler navigation and search functions; and a new, mobile-friendly format.

“The original website had been live for six years and technology has changed a lot in that time. We now access the internet on a range on devices and expect the websites we visit to be accessible on the device of our choice,” says Nick David, website manager at the RPS.

The RPS website team has spent the past two years planning the development of the new website, working with Cantarus, a digital agency from Manchester. User data has been transferred to the new site, meaning that existing users can continue to use the website without the need to make any changes, such as to passwords.

The focus of the website team’s work was on improving user experience. The new website offers a different look, and those using phones or tablets will find that the site layout automatically adjusts to suit the screen size.

The major change is the way content is organised across the site. A priority for the team (taken from member feedback) was to make it easier for users to find what they were looking for.

“Getting the navigation right was massively important to us,” says David. “It’s now much easier to find content. Our resources (toolkits, quick reference guides, webinars and the e-library, for example) used to be spread throughout the website. Unless you knew where to look, and just what you were looking for, it could be hard.” The new site groups all such material under ‘Resources’.

The ‘News and updates’ and ‘Events’ sections of the website have been redesigned, while the search functionality has also been upgraded and now features suggested results and filters.

The team has consulted with RPS staff and members on the best way to group the site’s content and then tested various layout options with member volunteers. “Eight versions later, we have the navigation you see today,” says David.

The website team also says it should now be easier to access the ‘Member dashboard’ via a new toolbar, which automatically appears when users are logged in and follows users as they navigate from page to page.

“The dashboard function was always there,” says David, “but previously it was hidden, and many users didn’t know about it.”

The website’s colour palette has also been updated — the number of colours has been scaled down, and greater contrast between background and foreground colours is used, designed to make the text easier to read.

The website team is continuing to review the redesigned website content based upon usage, to ensure the content is fresh and up to date. It is also developing new features for the future, including personalisation options aiming to push relevant content to individual users, to tailor their experience.

“Our aim throughout [the redesign] was to focus on user experience, creating a site that’s accessible, responsive and secure,” says David.

A button at the bottom of each page allows users to provide feedback, which can also be sent via www.rpharms.com.