Leading global digital agency, JAKALA (former FFW), announced May 1st 2023 it has been honored for Best Website Navigation/Structure in the 27th Annual Webby Awards, for innovative platform design work with IES Abroad.
Hailed as the “Internet’s highest honor” by The New York Times, The Webby Awards is the leading international awards organization honoring excellence on the Internet.
“Honorees like [JAKALA] with IES Abroad are setting the standard for innovation and creativity on the Internet,” said Claire Graves, President of The Webby Awards. “It’s an incredible achievement to be selected among the best from the nearly 14,000 entries we received this year.”
JAKALA is a global leader in building solutions to the challenges and opportunities that come with digital scale. Composed of a global team of digital experts, JAKALA empowers the world’s leading organizations, like IES Abroad, to build and optimize cutting-edge digital platforms, to achieve maximum impact and sustainable success.
In support of the design and replatform for one of the global leaders in study abroad and internship programming, IES Abroad and JAKALA collaborated to create a single, cohesive, and detailed design system constructed around key user journeys.
“The IES Abroad website is the only way to access and apply to IES Abroad programs,” said Amy Ruhter McMillan, Senior AVP of Global Marketing & Strategic Communications. “It’s where people first learn about IES Abroad and what we offer; where students 'try on' a study abroad program through our program finder, blogs, photos, videos, program information, and more.”
“Rebuilding our entire site with JAKALA allowed us to thoughtfully and intentionally improve accessibility and navigation, revamp our visuals and page layouts, clean up our code and data, bring the student experience to the forefront, and better capture the benefits of study abroad. This new website truly better serves our students, their parents, and our schools.”
- Amy Ruhter McMillan | IES Abroad Senior AVP of Global Marketing & Strategic Communications
Such architecture enabled a smooth handoff from design to development of an experience that included a vast library of components, templates, and graphic elements, supporting the full spectrum of IES Abroad’s editorial and functional needs. It also provides a seamless, responsive user experience, to empower students to easily find and apply for academic programs at the schools or in the communities of their choosing.
“We are really proud of the innovative approach we took to the design of the navigation,” said Amanda Konopko, XD Lead on the IES Abroad platform design project. “Not only does it make IES Abroad stand out, it speaks directly to the exploratory nature of the student when choosing a study abroad program.”
IADAS, which nominates and selects The Webby Award Winners, is comprised of Internet industry experts including Questlove, DJ and Producer; Werner Vogels CTO, Amazon; Quinta Brunson, Writer, Director and Actor; Reshma Saujani, Founder, Girls Who Code; LeVar Burton, Actor, Podcaster and TV Host; and Comedian Samantha Bee.
