"We felt heard. We didn’t feel anything we asked for through snagging had any resistance and everything we wanted the website to have was included, with suggestions from all creative parties heard."
Overview
Open Door 1 are a Sutton-in-Ashfield based community group dedicated to providing socialisation and daycare services for people living with dementia. They offer a range of essential services, including engaging activities, hot meals and refreshments, transportation to and from their facility as well as events tailored for carers.
Open Door 1 plays a crucial role in supporting both individuals with dementia and their families, creating a space where social connections are encouraged and care is delivered with compassion and professionalism.
Whilst focusing their efforts on providing the possible care to it’s users, their website had gradually become slow, outdated and no longer reflected the full breadth of the services they provide. It was difficult to navigate and its design didn’t align with the modern, welcoming environment that Open Door 1 strives to create. Recognising the need for an update, the charity sought to revamp their digital presence, making the website more user friendly and ensuring it effectively communicates their mission, services and commitment to supporting those affected by dementia.
The challenge
Open Door 1 approached Cool Code Company because of our shared Midlands location and our commitment to meeting social responsibility goals. They knew that we would understand the importance of their mission and share in their values of community care, making us the logical partner for their website revamp. Our MD - Tony Hearn - visited Open Door 1 to discuss the challenges they were encountering with their existing website, explore the changes they wanted to implement and gain a clear understanding of the user experience they wanted to create.
The solution
The solution was a comprehensive website transformation that addressed the key issues Open Door 1 had faced, including the site's hard to use navigation, outdated design and overall lack of engagement. The website was initially built in WordPress but staff were not comfortable with the CMS attached to this. We undertook a full rewrite of the website and moved it to Umbraco to provide them a more well suited CMS system. We then revamped the website to better reflect and promote their mission, making it easier for users to access the support they need. The new design is not only visually appealing but also reinforces the Open Door 1 brand, creating a much more memorable and impactful online presence that really represents the vital work they do.
The result
Since it’s launch in September 2025, the newly redesigned Open Door 1 website has made a significant impact both internally and externally.
Employees are much happier and more confident when directing people to the site, knowing it now provides a user friendly experience and that people can find the information they need easily. Carers and families of patients have praised the website for its ease of navigation, feeding back that they can now quickly access the information they need without the need to call the charity direct.
This new design has not only improved user satisfaction but has also reduced the volume of inbound inquiries, giving staff time back to focus on providing the care and support their patients rely on.
Overall, the website has enabled Open Door 1 to really connect with the community around them, making it easier for individuals to engage with the services they offer whilst ultimately giving the charity a more professional, modern and indeed - memorable online presence.
The future
At Cool Code Company, we are committed to the long term success of Open Door 1’s digital presence and as part of our ongoing partnership, we will be providing regular maintenance, support and monthly hosting services to ensure the website remains in tip top condition. We understand that as Open Door 1 grows further - so too will their website needs. Whether it's adding new features, further refining the user experience or implementing additional functionality to meet new requirements, we’ll be on hand to respond.
Testimonial
Rob Huskinson, Grants Officer at Open Door 1 had this to say about his personal experience working in partnership with Cool Code Company -
Q) What were the main problems you were having with the website prior to Cool Code Company involvement?
A) Cool Code Company [CCC] solved a lot of problems with designing and enhancing our online presence. As an Adult Day Service, a lot of our time is spent in logistics and operations and the day-to-day goings on and without a responsive and strong communicative collaboration, we would never be able to find designers, coders, builders and get our ideas and vision across without working with someone who wanted successful outcomes.
We had a website that was supported by volunteers and employees' family members, but looking at our website and speaking to our customers, the information that people required, what we do and how to access our service just wasn’t there for them.
We refined the information for what people need to know and we knew how to communicate it, but we didn’t have ‘all of the pieces’ so-to-speak to represent and speak to our customers, whilst showcasing our core business values. We knew we had to develop our website for our service users
Q) What are the immediate impacts you have personally noticed since the launch of the new website?
A) The website's new look, loading speed, navigation simplicity and how responsive CCC are made immediate impact with engagement through our web portal. The website looks professional, communicates our ideas, inviting for customers and functions simply. I’m sure many businesses wish they could say that about their own sites. We also love that we have aligned business with sustainable designers and photographers that CCC recommended to develop supportive media to showcase service user experience.
Q) What did you value most about the whole engagement process?
A) We felt heard. We didn’t feel anything we asked for through snagging had any resistance and everything we wanted the website to have was included, with suggestions from all creative parties heard.
Q) Would you recommend Cool Code Company?
A) I would absolutely recommend CCC to anyone. If you need to get connected to creatives for design and photography, require responsive communication and timely management of project delivery whilst working to a high professional standard, CCC delivers.
Technologies
WordPress
Bootstrap
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