About ARCS
ARCS (Association of Reproductive and Clinical Scientists) is a professional body run by reproductive scientists who support research, development, and professional needs within reproductive sciences in the UK and internationally.
Project Overview
ARCS needed a website that better reflected the organisation, improved usability for members, and provided a more reliable, efficient platform to support its growing community.
The old site was built with the Avada page builder, which affected performance and limited flexibility due to its heavy code and reliance on extra features. Replacing it with ACF improved site speed, allowed more customisation, and made content management easier.
Douglass Digital was brought in to redesign the website, using an approach focused on performance.
Objectives
- Improve overall user experience, site structure, and contrent management.
- Increase performance.
- Better support ARCS’ events and educational content, particularly ARCS365.
- Create a cleaner, more professional interface.
New ARCS365
Old ARCS365
Our ACF Website Solution
ACF Website Rebuild
The site was rebuilt by moving away from Avada page builder, giving ARCS a faster and more reliable platform that is easier for their team to manage using Advanced Custom Fields (ACF).
This allowed:
- Better performance and faster load times.
- More control over layouts.
- Cleaner, more maintainable code.
- Easier long-term scalability.
ARCS365 Events Functionality
ARCS365 is a key part of ARCS’ educational approach. We redesigned this section to be more intuitive and cleaner.
This included:
- Clearer event structure with redesigned sections.
- Better organisation of individual talks, speakers, and past event recordings.
UX and Structure
We updated the site structure to make key information easier for members and non-members to find, creating a smoother and more intuitive browsing experience.
Video and Recordings
Video recordings were separated into their own dedicated section, making it easier for users to find and revisit past talks and educational material.
This separation also helps ARC Scientists manage and expand their video content library over time without cluttering event pages.
Outcome
The redesigned website loads faster, is more intuitive, and better aligned with the role of ARCS as a professional organisation. Internally, the team now has more control over content without sacrificing performance or consistency.
The ARCS365 events are clearer, better structured, and more useful for users who want to explore talks, speakers, and recordings.
Services Provided
- Website redesign
- UX improvements
- WordPress rebuild using ACF
- Performance optimisation
- Custom events functionality
- Video content structuring
