WORK READY OKLAHOMA'S
Storytelling Initiative Website
Work Ready Oklahoma (WRO) is a grant funded initiative that provides social support and job placement services to residents who have been out of the job market for an extended period of time. WRO's beneficiaries come from a variety of backgrounds, so the support they receive from WRO is personalized to take their unique circumstances into account and help them re-enter the workforce as quickly as possible.
As WRO's work led to a growing pool of success stories, its leadership decided to utilize some of those stories to increase awareness of the grant's activities and reach more eligible Oklahoma City residents. To that end, we began working together on what was initially known as "the Storytelling Project."
The entire website would function much like a walk-through narrative, with each page focusing on a single WRO beneficiary and featuring infographics to add context and flesh out the subject's story. As viewers scrolled through the page, these elements would move and shift, adding a small degree of energy and interactivity to the page.
As the design progressed through several rounds of proofing, small changes were implemented to make the layout feel more positive, intimate, and above all – local. These changes included the addition of state-specific statistics, quotes from the subject, and slight adjustments to the color palette.
Below: Before-and-after views of Laterrian's layout, which served as the template for all future pages.
As viewers progressed to a new page, they were greeted by a unique full page header, which aligned with the established design aesthetic while maintaining a degree of individuality. The title of each story was carefully crafted to communicate the challenges and successes of each subject.
Infographics were customized for each narrative. Most pages featured additional media, such as interviews with the subject's WRO representative and links to additional resources.
The infographics were integral to the layout, but they weren't the most important feature. That award went to the subject's video interview, located at the end of each story.
Recognizing that some viewers would not want to read through a large amount of content before viewing the video, I suggested the addition of a section near the beginning of the layout to allow viewers to skip directly to the video.
At the end of my contract, this project was handed off to the client's on-site developer. To date, the site has not yet gone live.
