Team Members

Janice Camacho, justin2pin, philip_stier, jldust

Project Team

Kelsey Boyd; Kathryn Sutton; Aundrea Billings

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Organizations Involved

Telling the Story of Underground Science

Located within the former Homestake Gold Mine in Lead, SD, the Sanford Underground Research Facility (SURF) houses physics, biology, geology, and engineering research that helps people understand the universe. Sprawling across more than 360 miles of underground tunnels, entrenched up to one mile deep, the subterranean environment shields experiments from cosmic radiation, creating the perfect location for some of the world’s most sensitive research.

The primary challenge with SURF’s new Drupal site was it needed to advocate for the value of this complex, cutting-edge research to communities near and far — including local teachers, community members, tourists, policy makers and the global scientific community — encouraging everybody to get involved.

Our user and stakeholder engagements directed a narrative-driven approach that helped convey what research SURF hosts, why it’s valuable to fund this work, and how the community can engage with SURF’s programs. Featuring a “show-don’t-tell” approach, the site paired SURF’s stunning photography with a bold design system catered to its identity, including a rich color palette, tall typography, and hand-crafted science-inspired illustrations.

Describe the project (goals, requirements and outcome)
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Broad Audiences & Expansive Offerings

SURF’s existing website lacked a clear navigational structure and connected storytelling, which hindered its ability to explain the significance of its ongoing research and to prompt visitor engagement across the site. Additionally, SURF hoped to:

  • Convince public policy makers and funders to support expanding SURF’s facilities and capabilities.
  • Create awareness for the visitor center, the organization’s main public-facing experience.
  • Generate visibility and support for education and outreach events, including curriculum development opportunities, public events like Neutrino Day, community programming, and more.
  • Educate visitors about the SURF Foundation and prompt donations, which help fund SURF’s educational and outreach activities.
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Developing a User-centric Approach

To really understand the needs of their audiences, our team got a chance to visit SURF in person. We were able to understand how various groups would experience SURF’s facilities, and gain a deeper understanding of the in-person education processes the website would be supporting.

We also engaged with users and stakeholders ranging from educators, scientists, development directors, program supervisors, and more. Through a series of surveys and workshops, we established a clear vision for how all users should navigate the website, support their in-person experience, and understand the impact of SURF’s leadership in underground science. The results of this user-centric approach to our research directly informed the way we structured menus and content across the new site.

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Purpose-driven Storytelling

Our strategy process focused on the “why” of underground science research rather than the usual “what.” Using insights from surveys and workshops, we identified the purpose of each page and its sections to convey how we’re meeting user’s needs along their journey.

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A Detailed, In-Depth Design System

The design process kicked off with a design workshop, aligning Aten and SURF on a clear, ambitious vision for the new website. We wanted to highlight SURF’s physical presence by conveying a sense of being above and below ground. In doing so we used gradients, strong contrasts between light and dark, powerful photography, and custom illustrations based on scientific concepts.

A design system followed, led by bold, vertical typography and deep, earthy colors. Aten created more than 30 page mockups to fully develop and test the design system. The system was then adapted to responsive layouts and thorough documentation.

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Why Drupal was chosen
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Content editing ease & peak site performance

The new Drupal 10 site, hosted on Pantheon, is set up with Aten’s bespoke drag-and-drop content publishing system, Mercury Editor, enabling an accessible and fluid workflow for their non-technical content editors. We also enabled permissions for different roles at SURF to allow for editing specific page layouts and components.

And in order to optimize the site’s accessibility, SEO, and page speed, our Drupal developers instituted responsive image optimizations.

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Accessible & approachable content

In addition to ensuring the new website meets and exceeds a Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) standards, we ensured that the language used on the site appropriately conveyed technical information scientists expect but in a way that everyone can understand. Additionally SURF employed virtual visitor center tours and online curriculum modules so teachers and students throughout the region could interact with content even when a site visit was physically or financially impossible.

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Technical Specifications

Drupal version:

Key modules/theme/distribution used: