NIHR Leicester BRC website development & ongoing support

The NIHR Leicester BRC website redesign demonstrates Brighter Design’s ability to evolve and modernise healthcare sector websites while strictly adhering to brand guidelines and improving user experience. By carefully considering NIHR’s brand requirements, strategic design decisions, and modern development practices, we created a website that meets current needs and is positioned for future growth and enhancement.

Our ongoing partnership with NIHR Leicester BRC showcases our commitment to long-term client relationships and continued support. We ensure the website remains online, brand-compliant, and up-to-date in the evolving healthcare research landscape.

‘The team’s thorough approach to the redesign project, with a strong focus on user experience and content management, has made it much easier for our staff to maintain and update the website.‘

Opportunity

The NIHR Leicester Biomedical Research Centre needed to evolve its web presence to meet modern standards and user expectations. While their existing website (launched in 2017) successfully consolidated multiple Biomedical Research Units into a single domain, it required modernisation to improve user experience, content management capabilities, and overall design aesthetics.

What we did

We introduced a range of powerful enhancements to the CMS, with reusable content blocks taking centre stage to streamline content sharing across multiple pages, significantly improving management efficiency. The addition of flexible content areas empowered teams to make no-code edits to core site components, putting control directly in their hands.

The visual experience was elevated through the introduction of a full-width scrolling hero banner with video support, creating an immediate impact for visitors. We integrated social media platforms directly into the site architecture, enabling seamless sharing and engagement, while dynamic news components were implemented to ensure content remained fresh and relevant through automatic updates.

On the technical side, we made significant improvements to the search functionality, delivering faster and more accurate results. A comprehensive update of all plugins and widgets enhanced both performance and security, while improved metadata management boosted SEO effectiveness and content discoverability across the site.

How we did it

Our journey began with a thorough review of the NIHR brand identity guidelines, carefully identifying key brand elements and requirements. This foundational work enabled us to create a comprehensive design system that aligned perfectly with NIHR standards, ensuring consistency and strict adherence to the brand’s visual and stylistic framework throughout the project.

Before diving into design work, we conducted a detailed web traffic analysis, using the data to inform our design decisions and establish clear baseline metrics for measuring the impact of our changes. This analysis revealed important insights about desktop versus mobile usage patterns, which guided our development of a more user-centric experience across all devices.

The wireframing phase was crucial. We created detailed, annotated wireframes to define content placement, gather early feedback, and test initial concepts. This methodical approach allowed us to refine the user experience before moving into development, ensuring a more polished and user-friendly final product.

In the visual design phase, we produced high-quality designs that meticulously followed NIHR brand guidelines, incorporating their specific typography, colour palettes, and motifs. We created templates for all essential page types, balancing flexibility and uniformity. This comprehensive approach maintained visual consistency across the site and ensured perfect alignment with other NIHR websites, creating a cohesive brand presence across their digital ecosystem.

‘Their responsive technical support ensures the site runs smoothly, and they consistently provide solutions that balance technical excellence with practical usability.’