One of our specialties at Smith & Connors is creating websites for organizations that have complex audiences and topics — like science or academic institutes, foundations, or nonprofits in specialized fields. The biggest question, right off the bat, is: How do we engage those within the organization properly to ensure trust in the process? Only when we do that can we create a website user experience that caters to both the general public, who might want or need general information, and subject matter experts (SMEs), who usually want to go deeper into a topic or bypass the basics.

So let’s look at how we do it. 

Discovery with SMEs

First, you can't create a website for experts without talking to experts. What's cool about my job, I often tell people, is that I get to become a mini-expert in lots of topics: philanthropy, consumer justice, libraries, quantum physics. But really, I'm no such thing. What I'm good at is listening. When I sit down to talk with the actual experts, what I'm trying to figure out is what they need. What story do they need to tell? What’s vitally important to them to communicate on the website?

SMEs are know-it-alls, but it’s not their fault. They’re trained in a technical field, and so they can be like the proverbial hammer looking for nails to hit. And this specificity doesn’t always speak to a broader general audience.

So we use two key skills for engaging with SMEs and extracting what we need to know to craft a website strategy: active listening and empathy. Active listening goes beyond hearing the words spoken by SMEs; it means that we’re engaging with their ideas, asking insightful questions, and reading between the lines. This means knowing just enough to draw them out. I often have to study up. I personally love this part — but more importantly, when I do learn a little bit about the technical subject, I can get really excited about what gets them excited about the subject.

Empathy in the context of discovery sessions means putting ourselves in their shoes, understanding their passion for their field, and recognizing their concerns about how their knowledge is represented online. Often, it’s not that SMEs aren’t interested in communicating to a general audience — it’s that they don’t know how, and they don’t know what parts of their subject matter would be interesting to laypeople. So we try to bridge that gap for them, which loosens tongues and gets us what we need.

The goal of these discovery sessions is not just to extract information but to forge a partnership where SMEs see their insights accurately and respectfully reflected in the web design. This involves discussing the relevance of branding elements, the structure of content, and how their expertise can be showcased in a way that's both accurate and accessible to wider audiences. In a way, we’re engaging with their expertise so they can understand the value of our expertise (and, of course, the communications folks at their organizations). We’re ambassadors in these instances.

The Dual Pathway Approach: A Gateway to Knowledge

We take a dual pathway approach to websites, so we can offer two distinct routes through content: one for users seeking a general overview and another for those desiring a deep dive into detailed, expert-level content. This strategy acknowledges that not all visitors come with the same background knowledge or intent.

The first pathway is designed for accessibility, offering high-level overviews of topics. These are not simplifications but rather carefully curated introductions that get people interested, surface essential points, and get them wanting to go deeper. The aim is to make the newcomer feel welcomed and informed, using clear language, engaging visuals, and intuitive navigation.

The second pathway offers a more detailed exploration of subjects, catering to SMEs or highly engaged audiences craving minutiae. This involves presenting data, research findings, technical details, and expert analysis.

The design challenge lies in seamlessly integrating pathways into a cohesive website experience. You can only make one website, after all (usually). That means really thinking about the human side of this. Navigation is a big part of the project, often.

Clear Navigation and Layered Information

Creating a website that appeals to both SMEs and more general audiences requires more than just a rich repository of content; it demands a thoughtful approach to navigation and information architecture.

When you make the navigation clear and simple, it can guide visitors through the site's content to ensure that they can find what they're looking for with ease and efficiency. This means speaking the language of the audience.

We organize content in layers, in a way that users can access information at varying levels of depth according to their needs. We’re always thinking in these layers, providing high-level overviews with drill-down options — ways for technical folks to tunnel down to what they want. We also design content in modular blocks so things are flexible for the content creators.

One example of this is in the website we designed with Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. They’re a huge, sprawling institution, with dozens of scientific disciplines working side by side. Once you dig in and understand, it’s wild! We talked to subject matter experts in all of the areas and facilities to understand what they were concerned about, and then helped the communications team craft structures that could accommodate pathways to all of the various projects going on. On the other end of the spectrum, Berkeley Lab is a government organization funded by taxpayer dollars. Us non-technical citizens want to know what’s going on up there, so we developed ways to tell the high-level story and invite people into the science. We dig into the nitty-gritty details in our case study, if you're interested.

Accessibility is not just about meeting technical standards; it's also about ensuring content is approachable and understandable by users with varying levels of background knowledge. This can be achieved through glossaries, explainers, and visual guides.

We’re not that enamored with FAQs — they can end up being the junk drawers of the website world. Instead, we feel like you have to do the hard work of thinking through those frequently asked questions and then answering them in the context of the website.

Conclusion

In the quest to design websites that resonate with both SMEs and general audiences, the journey is as complex as it is rewarding. The key to engaging a diverse audience lies in crafting a multi-layered experience that respects and values the depth of expertise while making it accessible to all.

Designing for such a wide audience is not a one-time effort but a continuous process of listening, adapting, and improving. By fostering a collaborative relationship with SMEs and remaining responsive to the preferences of general audiences, we can ensure that our websites remain relevant, authoritative, and welcoming to all who seek knowledge.

In the end, we’re in this business to create platforms where expertise meets curiosity, and where every visitor, regardless of their skill level, feels valued and engaged. That, to us, is when we’ve really done our job.