ReadWorks

Length of Project: 6 years

Total Fees: $200,000, approximately

Project Description: 

ReadWorks’ mission is to eliminate the achievement gap in education, focusing on reading comprehension. After testing their curriculum in several public schools, primarily in New York City, ReadWorks made the strategic decision to release their materials freely online. Clever Name Here developed the technology and implemented the design for this site, readworks.org.

The site was developed over six months of tightly collaborative work. At launch, the site had more than 700 lessons, 500 reading passages, and 1,000s other pages in a fully redesigned, rebuilt, and rebranded system. The site has grown substantially and now receives over 30,000 unique visitors daily, with page views that on busy days exceed 400,000, and over 1,000,000 registered users.

We leaned heavily on a robust project management methodology to keep us and all the stakeholders on track. We began with an information gathering phase, which included an audience survey and interviews with key stakeholders, which resulted in a firm set of requirements. We then developed a 24 page functional specification and created wireframes for all key pages, all before beginning visual design. As a result, our developers were able to work towards a clear goal, and produced the project on time and on budget.

Back-end developer: Litza Stark, Sam Nelson

Front-end developer: Daniel Fiege, Litza Stark

Information Architecture: Lani Offen

Designer: Sean Oakes, Randall Martin

Project manager: Lani Offen, Sam Nelson

Systems Architect: Sam Nelson, Joshua Nichols

Hosting: Rackspace