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The future of pandemic preparedness

The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovation (CEPI) aims to accelerate the development of vaccines and other biologic countermeasures against epidemic and pandemic threats so they can be accessible to all people in need. 

As part of CEPI’s strategy to optimise its digital platforms and digital content, it sought to improve the cybersecurity, flexibility, and user-centric design of its website. In doing so, CEPI aimed to create an easily adaptable site, and secure, website that met the needs of a diverse set of users.

the brief.

CEPI had expanded rapidly over the past 5 years since its inception in 2017. The organisation had grown in size and complexity. The expansion of its vaccine R&D efforts and its world-leading response to the COVID-19 pandemic not only led to a substantial increase in digital content on its main website and multiple microsites. The organisational needs had also grown, pushing its existing platforms to their limits in terms of their functionality and set-up. 

It therefore sought to future-proof its web presence and create a new,

improved, and visually stunning version of its website that: 

Optimises the user journey and user experience – Consolidated and optimised content from its existing websites – Was built on a robust and flexible CMS and adhered to the highest cybersecurity standards.

what we did.

Using our 5 Ds project framework (Discover, Define, Design, Develop and Deliver), we first conducted a range of activities to understand, in detail, the specific needs of the users; what they wanted from the site, what they’re looking for and how they engaged with content. We did this through site audits (technical & UX), a review of existing site data and in-depth stakeholder interviews & workshops, across a diverse and international stakeholder landscape.

We used the insights gathered through user testing to create an optimised information architecture, map key user journeys and create wireframes & prototypes for user testing. We then used this further insight to create a design system, flexible design components and to plan the architecture of the site.

In our development phase we used Drupal to create a flexible CMS for the CEPI comms teams, alongside React, Gatsby & component library to create an accessible, performant, user focused front end and working alongside a third party utilising Azure to provide a secure infrastructure.

the results.

industry leading.

A single site filled with moments of joy that showcases CEPI’s strong, visual brand, whilst creating a seamless user experience for all visitors. Elegantly illustrating CEPI’s impressive impact of their important work towards enabling equitable access to life-saving vaccines and creating a future in which epidemics and pandemics are no longer a threat to humanity

built with care.

The key measurements for assessing the sites performance (ie, its lighthouse score) speak for themselves. Achieving 100% in Best Practice and scoring highly across Performance (66% increase from original site), Accessibility (15% increase) & SEO (10% increase).

strong partnerships.

Of course we didn’t achieve this alone, we worked alongside some fantastic clients at CEPI, who collaborated with us at each step of the process and whose input was invaluable into understanding the aim of the new site and the needs of its diverse user base.

The Aer team have really gone above and beyond – and this is not lost on me. So thank you. We’ve created something very special together and—most importantly—you’ve created a critically useful resource for the world.

Mario Christodoulou
– Head of Digital Content