Project: Volunteer Ireland by Matrix Internet

The Brief

Volunteer Ireland is the national support body for all local volunteer centres in the country, and its website is a crucial portal for showcasing its work, nationwide events and information about the 209 volunteer centres it supports. Volunteer Ireland needed a new website that spoke to volunteers and people who use their services, while documenting their whole range of events that make a difference in communities all over Ireland.

Before embarking on design and development, we opened up a dialogue during a collaborative discovery workshop with key Volunteer Ireland stakeholders.

The main goal was a site that simplified and crystallised Volunteer Ireland’s messaging, while optimising the UX approach to processes such as enlisting as a volunteer, raising funds, taking part in training and providing a hub for support and resources.

Delivered services: ● Website Development ● UX Design ● SEO

We used Volunteer Ireland’s branding colour palette for the visual direction of the site, with modular sections, bold headlines and prominent calls to action such as volunteering, signing up for the newsletter and checking the events calendar. And because the organisation is a central hub for 29 centres, it was essential for the events to take centre stage — to provide a showcase and booking system for all events, integrated with the booking platform Eventbrite.

And as an organisation that’s all about grassroots empowerment, our technical team provided training to Volunteer Ireland to take control over their content — they can now use the new bespoke templates to create and edit pages after our hands-on training session, along with a comprehensive user manual. We’re proud to have been part of an organisation that plays such an integral role in communities around Ireland.

Website

See the project

Key Features

01
Custom graphic design with custom icons and brand consistency;
02
Prominent photos of real volunteers and events;
03
Integration with Eventbrite to create a useful hub for booking and showcasing all events;
04
Prominent calls to action, with subtle animations and engaging stat boxes;
05
Page templates, hands-on training and comprehensive user manual provided, so Volunteer Ireland can update the site with confidence.

Goals

To create a new engaging online hub for all 29 volunteer centres with a unified message and rewarding UX.

To create a new engaging hub for raising awareness and funds;
Consolidate event booking with important information on Volunteer Ireland members;
Increase the number of volunteers and fundraising opportunities.

Process

Excellence in design, clarity and user experience — from workshops to live launch.

Discovery phase with UX — research, creating target personas and sitemap;
Custom graphic design with an emphasis on branding consistency, bold visuals and icons and graphics;
Creation of wireframes and templates based on well researched sitemap;
Development phase, followed by hands-on training, QA and live launch.

Results

A bright, inviting new site for one of Ireland’s most essential organisations.

A modern revamp that aligns with Volunteer Ireland’s future aspirations;
Increased traffic and conversions since live launch;
Staff upskilling through training and future-proofed custom template system in place.