Quick Summary
Main focus: developing the About Us page for the new website, combining the organization’s history, mission, program structure, and leadership into one cohesive and much more accessible storytelling experience.
Turning Information Into a Story
This week focused on building the About Us page for the new website.
Compared to the homepage, this page was much less about visual excitement and much more about organization, clarity, and storytelling.
One of the biggest problems with the old website was that information felt fragmented.
Important pieces of the organization’s story existed, but they were:
- split across multiple short pages
- written inconsistently
- visually unorganized
- and difficult to fully connect together as a visitor
For example:
- “About Us”
- “Our History”
- and general program explanations
all existed separately even though they overlapped heavily.
So one of my biggest goals for the new About page was making everything feel like one cohesive experience rather than several disconnected pieces.
I wanted someone unfamiliar with Gliding Stars to finish the page understanding:
- who the organization is
- where it came from
- what it does
- how the season works
- and why it matters
without needing to jump around multiple pages trying to piece everything together.
Leading With Video
At the top of the page, I reused the promotional video I created during COMM 429 last semester.
That honestly felt very full-circle for me personally because the video itself was what originally reconnected me with Gliding Stars in the first place.
And now it had become the centerpiece introduction for the organization’s new website.
The video works especially well here because it gives visitors:
- real faces
- real voices
- real skating footage
- and real energy
immediately.
Instead of simply reading about the program, visitors can experience the atmosphere right away.
That felt much more powerful than static text alone.
Rebuilding the History Section
One thing I spent a lot of time refining was the history section.
The old website technically included historical information, but it did not really feel like a story.
Now the page opens the organization’s history with a much stronger narrative flow, including:
- the origin of the program
- founder Jack Schultz discovering the SABAH program
- Mercyhurst’s involvement
- Linda Althof’s role
- and the growth of the organization over 26 years
I also included a much higher-quality image of Jack Schultz and Linda Althof together, which immediately makes the section feel more personal and authentic.
One detail I especially liked was incorporating Jack Schultz’s quote as a styled blockquote section.
Visually, that breaks up the page nicely, but more importantly, it allows the founder’s voice to directly tell part of the story himself.
That makes the history feel:
- more human
- more emotional
- and more rooted in real people
instead of reading like a generic nonprofit timeline.
Clarifying What the Organization Actually Does
One of the biggest flaws of the old website was that it never clearly explained what the program actually looks like in practice.
Even after first discovering the organization myself, I honestly did not fully understand:
- how the season worked
- what happened on Monday nights
- what volunteers did
- or what the actual skating experience looked like
until I physically started attending practices.
That is a major communication problem for a public-facing website.
So the new About page intentionally explains:
- how long the season runs
- where practices happen
- how skaters are supported
- what adaptive equipment is used
- what volunteers do
- and how the season builds toward the annual show
This became the “What We Do” section.
And honestly, I think this section quietly fixes one of the biggest informational gaps from the original website.
Because now visitors can actually picture:
- what participation looks like
- what families can expect
- and how the organization operates week-to-week
instead of only reading vague descriptions about adaptive skating.
Refining the Language
Another thing I focused heavily on throughout the page was language consistency.
A lot of the content came from:
- previous About pages
- old show programs
- organizational materials
- and information I gathered throughout the internship
But I rewrote and reorganized everything so the tone felt:
- more cohesive
- easier to read
- more modern
- and emotionally warmer
without losing the heart of the organization itself.
One phrase that remained especially important throughout the page was:
“I CAN DO IT! I CAN SKATE!”
That phrase appears repeatedly throughout the organization in real life, so it felt important for it to remain a central part of the website as well.
Adding the Team Section
One major addition that did not really exist previously was the “Our Team” section.
As I spent more time around Gliding Stars, one thing became very obvious: this organization survives because of people.
And honestly, many of those people were almost invisible on the old website.
So I wanted to create a section that recognized:
- leadership
- coaches
- operations volunteers
- assistant coaches
- and student coaches
in a clear and organized way.
I spent a surprising amount of time adjusting the layout and formatting of the team boxes because I wanted them to:
- feel organized
- remain readable
- work well on desktop
- and stack naturally on mobile
Eventually, I landed on a card-style layout that feels clean without becoming overly flashy.
The section still needs finalized before public launch because volunteer roles naturally change over time, but even in its current state, it already feels dramatically more complete and professional than before.
Continuing to Design for Mobile
Like every other page so far, I constantly checked both desktop and mobile layouts throughout development.
One thing I kept learning throughout this process is that good mobile design is often less about adding things and more about simplifying things.
Cleaner layouts almost always worked better.
The page especially benefited from:
- consistent spacing
- shorter text sections
- visual separation
- responsive image sizing
- and stacked layouts on smaller screens
Compared to the old website—which often felt cramped and difficult to navigate on phones—the new About page feels much easier to move through naturally.
Reflection
This week felt important because the website finally started communicating the organization’s identity in a fuller way.
The homepage introduces the feeling of Gliding Stars.
But the About page explains the substance behind it.
And after spending months learning:
- the history
- the people
- the routines
- the structure
- and the emotional impact of the program
it was really satisfying seeing all of that finally come together into one cohesive page.
Compared to the original site, this version feels:
- clearer
- more welcoming
- more complete
- easier to navigate
- and much more reflective of what the organization actually is in real life.
Most importantly, it now feels like visitors can genuinely understand Gliding Stars even before stepping into the rink themselves.
Next Steps
- Begin building the “Our Program” page
- Continue organizing schedules, galleries, and season structure information
- Finalize responsive layouts for additional content sections
- Continue refining reusable styling systems across the site
- Prepare remaining pages for final content integration