Web design and development for an impact-focused career accelerator
Led the redesign and rebuild of High Impact Professionals' website into a clearer, more compelling expression of its value and impact, to better engage professionals considering a move into high-impact careers.
High Impact Professionals (HIP) supports experienced professionals who want to pivot their careers toward high‑impact work. Their Impact Accelerator Program is widely respected in the effective altruism community, yet their original website didn’t reflect the strength of the organization or the impact their team was creating.
I led a full rebuild of the site, taking it from strategy and design through to launch. I redesigned the information architecture, restructured the content, created a new visual system, and built the site on Wix with Airtable and Mailchimp integrations. The goal was to make the website feel as considered as their program itself, increase registrations, and give HIP a platform their team could maintain without relying on a developer.
Site architecture designed to meet HIP’s goals
HIP’s site needed to cater to two user personas: mid-career professionals seeking career guidance, and recruiters seeking talent for their orgs. The two users needed different site journeys, which the old site did not adequately address.
I mapped the two journeys for the new site, wrote an objective for every page (what a visitor should understand and do there), and rebuilt the navigation.
The Talent Directory split into a public side anyone can join and a members-only directory recruiters apply for. That split fixed a specific problem: on the old site, recruiters without access kept trying the private login, failing it, and creating support work for the HIP team to chase. Now they apply through the recruiters page, and the login only appears for people who already have an account.
Designing the responsive wireframes helped define individual sections and their communication objectives.
Designing and shipping the live site
Once the structure of the site was finalized, I led the visual design, determining the color, type, and imagery based on the branding requirements. I then developed the site on Wix, building the Airtable integrations that showcase live impact metrics and a Mailchimp integration for newsletter subscription.
Communicating HIP’s value proposition
One of the homepage’s primary objectives was to communicate HIP’s value proposition and guide visitors to the Impact Accelerator and Talent Directory pages. I designed it to state HIP’s purpose up front, then introduce their two main offerings, the Impact Accelerator Program and the Talent Directory, with concise copy and supporting visuals.
Driving registrations for the Impact Accelerator Program
The Impact Accelerator Program is HIP’s flagship and most publicized offering. It was critical that visitors bought into the value the program delivered, understood how it worked, and were convinced of its credibility. I structured the dedicated program page to meet these objectives.
At the top of the page, I focused on the value the program delivers and the community behind it, then used the program overview and application timeline to show how it works and what it takes to join. The logos of organizations alumni have joined, the impact numbers, and participant testimonials helped build the program’s credibility.
Design system built for handover
To enable the HIP team to maintain the site themselves, I set up the design system in Wix with all the style-guide elements covering typography, color palette, button styles, imagery rules, and reusable components. Using the system, a non-designer on the HIP team can now add a page or publish a resource and have it match the rest of the site.
Color
Type — Montserrat / Source Sans 3
Empowering high-impact careers
Source Sans 3 carries the body copy, chosen for readability across devices; Montserrat sets the headings.
Buttons
Outcome
The rebuilt HIP site now reflects the standard of the program behind it: professional, accessible, and aligned with the organization’s mission. The issues that originally prompted the project have been resolved. The new structure supports the two core user journeys, the recruiter access flow no longer generates support overhead, and the site now showcases HIP’s offerings and impact instead of undercutting them.
The HIP team was closely involved throughout the rebuild and were genuinely happy with the result. Because the site was designed for handover, they’re able to run and update it themselves without relying on a developer. It now serves as the platform through which the Impact Accelerator Program and the Talent Directory continue to take registrations and grow.