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Hi, I'm William. I'm the Director, Online Banking & Engagement at Vancity, Canada's largest credit union.

My opinions and views are just that, and don't reflect the views of my employer (or, perhaps, anyone else).

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Changing Everything on ChangeEverything.ca

When we first launched ChangeEverything.ca, it was a hectic and amazing time. Not enough time to get everything done. One of the areas I felt we could do better was site usability and overall design. Kate and I always felt like we wanted to go back and make some improvements.

So this year, we blocked out some budget and started working on fixing some of those areas. Among the areas we focused on were:

improving the registration flow
improving the workflow for adding changes and blog posts
grouping social features together so people discover each other and interact easier
putting a sharper focus on the people, and not just on the text
making the site, well, just prettier

It was a complete pleasure working with Kirsten Hall, an extraordinary usability consultant here in Vancouver, the amazing Tim McAlpine and his team at Currency Marketing on the front end design, and Affinity Bridge a great Drupal development shop in town.

The process, like the original creation of the site, was charmed. Everyone worked together well, there were no real hiccups, and people had a lot of fun.

The upcoming design changes, including as mock-up of the new look and feel, were announced on ChangeEverything.ca today. We're looking for Beta testers, so check it out and help out if you want.

Otherwise, I'll let you know when everything launches in September!

Labels: changeeverything, currency marketing, design, drupal, innovation, technology, vancity, vancouver, web 2.0

posted on Tuesday, August 12, 2008

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5 comments
Thanks William. I was humbled by the opportunity to get involved with Vancity and Change Everything.

This community is the premier example of social media success in the credit union space. The team that you assembled for the redesign is a pleasure to work with and the way that you and Kate let us do our thing has been wonderful.

I am continuously amazed at a how a simple decision I made a couple of years ago, "hey I should get into this blogging thing" has led to so many interesting new relationships and cool projects to work on.

I can't wait for the launch. The dev site is looking great. Mack and the team at Affinity Bridge are bringing our static Photoshop files to life!
comment from Tim McApine on August 12, 2008

It's so true, it was because of your work both writing and designing your blog and the deep understanding you showed of social interaction on Young & Free that made me want to work with you.

I must say it has been a complete pleasure. When we first started, you said something in a meeting that sums up ChangeEverything well. "I know there's a lot of great stuff here, I just don't know how to find it."

I believe we have made finding that great stuff much much easier.

Now I'll have to launch the wiki we worked on...
comment from

wazaroff on August 12, 2008

Bad a.

I'm blown away by the refresh, great work all!
comment from

Trey Reeme on August 14, 2008

Flat-out awesome! Brilliant! You have just unveiled the Cadillac of CU Social Media.
comment from

Matt, the Credit Union Warrior on August 20, 2008

Thanks Matt. Can't wait 'til launch!
comment from

wazaroff on August 24, 2008

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