From an outdated, restrictive website and unreliable integrations to a modern digital platform that puts the SOE team back in control.

A complete digital transformation for the Society of Operations Engineers, replacing an outdated and restrictive website ecosystem with a modern WordPress platform, redesigned member portal and more flexible connection to Microsoft Dynamics. The project covered much more than a visual redesign. We rebuilt how SOE manages its website, how members interact with the organisation online and how the internal team can continue developing the platform without relying on an agency for every change.

SOE had outgrown its website. The existing site was difficult to update, visually dated and built around a custom CMS that made even simple changes unnecessarily complicated. Creating new pages or improving existing ones was difficult, which meant the website could not evolve alongside the organisation. Changes such as adding social links, updating cookie functionality or adjusting content often required agency support and a new ticket. That dependency came at a cost. A significant amount of the website budget was being spent fixing problems and maintaining the existing system rather than improving the member experience. Behind the scenes, the Dynamics integration had also become a regular source of problems. When syncs failed or something needed investigating, resolving issues could take time. The member area had similar limitations. Members essentially logged into a standard webpage rather than something that felt like a dedicated digital portal. SOE needed more than a redesign. They needed a completely new foundation.

We rebuilt SOE on WordPress using Bricks Builder, giving the internal team a far more flexible and future-proof website. The new component-based system means SOE can create, edit and restructure pages without raising a development ticket every time something needs to change. We completely redesigned the logged-in experience too. Instead of members landing on what felt like a standard website page, they now enter a dedicated portal designed around their membership, resources and actions. The result feels significantly more premium and much closer to the experience members expect from a modern professional organisation. We also rebuilt and improved the connection between the website and Microsoft Dynamics, giving SOE a stronger technical foundation for membership data and online services. Navigation and user journeys were simplified, the design was modernised and the wider brand was evolved during the project. This included introducing a new navy colour that has since become part of SOE's visual identity. SOE now has a website their team can actually build on instead of working around.