Redefining a Global Nonprofit’s Digital Experience
The Aspen Institute
A Digital Platform to Support a Mission of Global Impact
The Aspen Institute came to WDG with an ambitious goal: to reimagine its flagship website as a reflection of its global leadership, unify over 60 diverse programs, and mark its 75th anniversary with a digital presence as forward-thinking as its mission. Their existing site was weighed down by technical debt, fragmented UX, and an editorial system that made publishing a challenge.
In close collaboration with stakeholders across departments, WDG delivered a modern, scalable platform built on WordPress Gutenberg, designed to be as engaging to navigate as the Institute’s ideas are to share. The new site puts content first while integrating seamlessly with enterprise systems. It’s a platform built not just for today’s needs, but for long-term growth.
Launched in time for the anniversary milestone, the result is a flexible, editorially-driven site that streamlines publishing, unifies the Institute’s vast program content, and deepens audience engagement through personalization, federated search, and immersive storytelling, all while honoring the Bauhaus-inspired identity at the core of the Aspen brand.
Design
Designing for Audiences, Results, and Growth
WDG began by listening, diving deep into conversations with stakeholders across Aspen’s departments, studying traffic patterns, and uncovering key friction points in content management and user engagement.
With these insights, we reimagined the site’s information architecture and content strategy to align more closely with how real users interact with Aspen’s digital presence, from casual browsers exploring new ideas to policy experts seeking depth and detail.
The result was a streamlined strategic foundation: a restructured content model, clearly defined persona-driven goals, a roadmap to consolidate fragmented microsites, and a data-backed understanding of audience journeys and search behavior.
Bauhaus, But Make It Digital
Inspired by the Institute’s Bauhaus legacy and the works of Herbert Bayer, WDG created a sleek, contemporary design language that feels editorial and expansive.
The new design system balances artful storytelling with accessibility and performance, built to scale across all of Aspen’s program pages and microsites.
Design highlights include a homepage hero inspired by Bauhaus grid systems, flexible content layouts for reports, blogs, and event pages, and an improved visual hierarchy to enhance wayfinding.
Technology & Integrations
WordPress Gutenberg, Elevated
The site is powered by a fully custom WordPress Gutenberg theme, giving content editors an intuitive, flexible interface built for scale. Behind the scenes, we engineered a robust foundation that blends performance with enterprise-grade integrations, supporting secure, scalable integration with enterprise systems.
From intelligent search to accessibility compliance, every technical choice supports both users and editors. Custom Gutenberg blocks streamline publishing, and Pantheon’s container-based hosting platform ensures enterprise performance and scalability, whether launching a microsite or supporting high-traffic initiatives.
Intelligent Search
Powering Smarter Discovery with Coveo AI
To help users find content across Aspen’s vast network of programs, publications, and events, WDG implemented Coveo’s AI-powered search solution. This robust tool offers federated indexing and real-time relevance tuning, surfacing meaningful content to different user types—from curious visitors to engaged researchers.
The search experience is enhanced by intuitive filtering, smart ranking, and behavioral learning capabilities. Integrated directly into the WordPress frontend, Coveo ensures that Aspen’s most valuable insights are always within reach, while reducing friction across high-volume traffic flows and supporting measurable engagement.
Collaboration + Delivery
Collaboration + Delivery
With a tight timeline leading up to Aspen’s 75th anniversary, WDG mobilized cross-functional teams to work in parallel across strategy, design, and development. Through an agile delivery model, we kept pace with ambitious milestones, conducting iterative QA while actively collaborating with Aspen’s internal teams.
Weekly workshops and stakeholder check-ins kept everyone aligned, while hands-on WordPress training empowered editors to hit the ground running. A detailed resourcing plan ensured continuity across two production teams, and our post-launch support strategy helped Aspen transition smoothly into long-term optimization.
A Platform for the Future of Thought Leadership
Aspen’s new site is more than a redesign. It’s a strategic foundation built to amplify the Institute’s voice and mission well into the future.
By equipping content creators with intuitive tools, embracing rich editorial storytelling, and delivering a scalable, future-ready platform, WDG helped Aspen forge deeper connections with global audiences and strengthen its position as a digital-first thought leader.
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