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Modernizing a 300+ Member Brewers Guild

Washington Brewers Guild

A full website rebuild for a 300+ member statewide brewers' association, replacing a legacy site with a CMS-driven system Guild staff could manage on their own. The new site covers events, resources, and member content that needed to grow over time.
Briefcase icon
Client
Washington Brewers Guild
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My Role
UX Designer, Web Designer, Webflow Developer
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Timeline
January 2026 – May 2026
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Tools Used
Figma, Webflow, Illustrator, Photoshop, GSAP

Design Process

Design process flow showing six stages in sequence: Overview, Understand, Research, Ideation, Design, and Reflection.Design process flow showing six stages in sequence: Overview, Understand, Research, Ideation, Design, and Reflection.

My Impact

Led end-to-end redesign from strategy through implementation and launch.
Built a scalable CMS with collections for events and resources, so non-technical staff could manage content updates without developer support.
Reorganized navigation and page hierarchy to simplify how visitors find information.
Built client trust that led to an ongoing retainer for continued support beyond launch.
understand

The Challenge

Years of added pages, resources, and member content had made the site increasingly difficult to navigate and maintain. The redesign aimed to simplify the experience for users while making the site easier for the Guild to update going forward.
research

Competitive Landscape

I reviewed brewery guild and membership organization websites to evaluate navigation, event access, membership pathways, and content organization.

01

california craft brewers association

Content Hierarchy

Dense navigation and text-heavy layouts reduced scannability.

A screenshot of the Upcoming Events page on the California Craft Brewers Association website

02

texas craft brewers guild

Event Navigation

Individual event pages were prioritized over a unified events overview.

A screenshot showing an Events dropdown that links to individual events rather than a centralized events overview

03

colorado brewers guild

Membership Value

Membership options were available, but the value of joining was unclear.

A membership landing page with a limited explanation of membership benefits or value

04

bale breaker brewing co.

Brand Expression

Strong branding and focused content created a clear experience.

A screenshot of the homepage on the Bale Breaker Brewing Co. website

Research Synthesis

The review revealed a common challenge among membership organizations: serving diverse audiences without overwhelming them. This became a core focus of the redesign.

Key information was often buried beneath dense content.
Organizations often asked users to act before communicating value.
Individual event pages were often prioritized over a unified view.
Strong branding and content focus created a clearer experience than text-heavy sites.

UX Audit

Based on NN/G's 10 usability heuristics ↗, I evaluated the existing experience for recurring issues related to navigation, hierarchy, content organization, and discoverability.

01

Content Prioritization

Finding

Key information was buried beneath long blocks of text and competing content.

Impact

Membership benefits, advocacy work, and upcoming events were difficult to scan.

02

Navigation Clarity

Finding

Primary actions competed with secondary links, pages, and supporting content.

Impact

Important destinations were difficult to identify among competing content and links.

03

Communicating Value

Finding

Membership benefits were presented as dense content rather than clearly prioritized information.

Impact

Users had to sift through lengthy content to understand the value being offered.

Same site, two different layouts.

Donation page on the old website featuring card-based contribution options and a task-focused layout

Donation page

Hall of Fame page on the old website featuring a long-form article with minimal visual hierarchy

Hall of Fame page

04

Consistency & Standards

Finding

Page layouts and content structures varied drastically across the site.

Impact

Users encountered different navigation and content patterns throughout the experience.

Designing for Three Audiences

Early stakeholder conversations revealed three distinct audiences with different needs.

Event-Goers

Needed a faster path to discover events and purchase tickets.

Guild Members

Relied on the site for paying dues and accessing their accounts.

Internal Staff

Needed scalable systems for updates and long-term maintenance.

ideation
How might we simplify navigation, clarify content priorities, and build a foundation that grows with the Guild?
design

Simplifying Navigation

As content and member resources expanded, navigation became difficult to maintain. I reorganized the site's structure, simplified navigation, and created clearer pathways for event-goers, members, and staff.

Before

Legacy structure

Crowded Navigation

1

Home

2

Donation

3

About

4

Members

5

Hall of Fame

6

Events

7

Job Board

8

Contact

9

DEIA Resources

10

Search

Issues observed

9 top-level navigation items competing for attention
Related content scattered across multiple sections
Orphan pages with unclear relationship to core tasks

After

Reorganized structure

Consolidated Navigation

1

Home

2

Events

3

About

4

Resources

5

Members

Improvements

Related content grouped into clearer sections
Events, member tools, and resources easier to find
Room to add new content without crowding the nav

Building a Scalable CMS

As events, resources, and member content expanded, maintaining the site became increasingly time-consuming. I created reusable CMS structures that reduced one-off page creation and made recurring content easier to manage, update, and scale.

CMS Collections

Events
Staff & Board
Hall of Fame
Speakers
Member Resources

Reusable Templates

Events Template
Resource Template
Profile Template

Published Content

Event Listings
Staff & Board Directory
Hall of Fame Archive
Featured Speakers
Resource Library

Key Improvements

Reduced reliance on one-off page builds
Standardized recurring content sitewide
Simplified content management
Built a foundation that scales with Guild content
Designing Across Devices
Dense navigation structures, evolving event content, and member resources needed a layout that adapted cleanly across screen sizes.
A Member Resources page on the Washington Brewers Guild website mocked up on desktop, laptop, tablet, and mobile devices

Key Improvements

Reflowed dense navigation and resource grids for smaller screens
Preserved content hierarchy from desktop down to mobile
Kept touch targets and navigation usable at every size

From Strategy to Launch

The final phase focused on implementation and launch: migrating content, updating domains, and training the Guild on their new CMS collections so they could manage day-to-day edits. I'm now on retainer for anything beyond that scope.

Implementation

Built and configured in Webflow

Content Migration

Assets moved from WordPress site

Domain Transition

Resolved DNS issues at go-live

Launch

Live, now on ongoing retainer

reflection

More Than a Website Refresh

This project went beyond a visual update, simplifying navigation, supporting diverse user groups, and building a content system staff could confidently manage themselves.

Planning for Growth

Built reusable systems for events, resources, and member content that could evolve over time without requiring full page redesigns.

Designing for Multiple Audiences

Structured navigation and content around the needs of brewers, event attendees, and public visitors.

From Strategy to Implementation

Led the project from research through visual design, CMS planning, and development, then stayed on retainer to support the Guild beyond launch.
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© 2025 Addison Pann