Science Oxford helps young people, families and schools engage with science, technology, engineering and maths. Its website has to serve several audiences at once, from parents looking for an event this weekend to teachers planning activities months ahead.
Our work
Science Oxford
A faster website, a better booking system and a backend people actually want to use.
The existing website had accumulated several years of technical and content debt. Navigation was difficult, layouts were inconsistent, performance had suffered and the underlying architecture made new development harder than it needed to be.
The booking system was a particular problem. It was slow, difficult to maintain and approaching end of life, with accessibility and code-quality issues that made continued development a poor investment.
The team needed more than a visual refresh. They needed a cleaner foundation.
What we changed
We designed and developed a custom, component-led WordPress theme built around Science Oxford’s actual content: events, activities, resources and information for distinct audiences.
Reusable components gave editors enough flexibility to build useful pages while keeping layouts and accessibility consistent. Content was separated into sensible structures so information could be filtered, reused and maintained without duplication.
We also replaced the legacy booking system with a bespoke solution that connects directly to HubSpot. That simplified the booking flow, improved reliability and gave the team a much cleaner way to manage event data.
- A 99/100 Lighthouse performance score on the rebuilt site
- Faster, clearer navigation for families, schools and other audiences
- A bespoke booking workflow integrated with HubSpot
- Reusable components that have continued to support new requirements over time
- Better-structured events and content
- A cleaner, more accessible front end
- An admin experience designed around the people maintaining the site
The best proof of the architecture is that the site has continued to evolve. New requirements can be added without needing to rethink the whole platform each time.
Not a handover-and-disappear project
We continue to work closely with the Science Oxford team, providing maintenance, development and training as the organisation and its digital needs change.