Client
Ascham – intranet
Ascham School
Scope
User research
Prototyping
Sitemapping
Wireframing
UI Design
Implementation
Content strategy
Project management
Brand advisory
Services
Strategy
Consulting
Design
Content Creation
Digital platforms
Summary
Reimagining Ascham’s intranet as a personal, intuitive and deeply human platform that strengthens connection across the entire School community.
Ascham needed an intranet that matched the way its community now lives, works and connects — a platform that felt personal, intuitive and genuinely reflective of the School’s character. With a long partnership and deep knowledge of Ascham’s brand and people, we set out to completely redefine this critical daily tool. The result is a human-centred intranet and mobile app that brings clarity, cohesion and emotional connection to thousands of users, wherever they are and on any device.
Process
- Listening deeply to the community: We held extensive interviews, workshops and research sessions with staff, parents and students to understand frustrations, expectations and real-world needs. This uncovered a clear picture of the “future-state” intranet and the business requirements behind it.
- Iterative idea development: Using fast sketching, rough prototypes and whiteboard concepts, we validated ideas directly with users, refining pathways before any formal design work began. This “fast-fail/validate” approach kept the project grounded in real behaviours.
- Defining the structure: We developed a completely new information architecture and sitemap, reshaping how content is grouped, prioritised and accessed. This created a foundation for intuitive navigation and personalised user journeys.
- Designing the experience: More than 130 high-fidelity wireframes set the structure for dashboards, notices, notifications, news, events, calendars and role-based content. We introduced a visual system that made the intranet feel warm, organised and unmistakably Ascham.
- Elevating the visual language: We pushed beyond CMS limitations to design a richer, more expressive UI — demonstrating how design-led thinking could shift engagement, increase clarity and create emotional connection.
- Expert implementation and delivery: We worked closely with the CMS development team, ensuring the platform met the intent of a people-centric design. Our role included oversight, consultation and collaborative handover through cloud-based tools to maintain fidelity to the vision.
Outcome
- A truly people-centred intranet and mobile app that brings clarity, coherence and connection to daily School life — anytime, on any device.
- A single, unified source of truth that simplifies communication, reduces frustration and supports the growing information needs of the School.
- New features and enhancements to the CMS platform — including personalised dashboards, improved calendars, dynamic notices, notifications and events — many of which became sought-after functionality across the broader education sector.
- A platform widely recognised as best practice in independent education, showcased at national ICT leadership conferences and used as an example of how thoughtful design can transform school operations.
- A successful shift from a development-first system to a design-led digital environment, demonstrating how technology can deepen engagement, improve behaviour and support the evolving needs of teachers, parents and students.
- An immersive digital experience described by AISNSW ICT Leadership as showing how technology can “...act as an agent of meaningful change… reinventing practices to reflect the changing technological and sociological climate.”
Words of support
