The Center for Domestic Peace faced a structural challenge common to many mission-driven organizations: balancing the visibility of its community education and prevention initiatives with clear access to programs and services. The website needed to communicate the organization’s leadership in domestic violence prevention while ensuring that individuals seeking support could easily navigate available resources.
This balance became particularly important in shaping the site’s information architecture. Rather than framing all content around crisis response, the experience introduced an Understanding Abuse section to help individuals and their family members recognize the signs of unhealthy or abusive relationships, creating space for awareness and self-recognition. In parallel, a dedicated Get Involved section elevated opportunities for community engagement and prevention education. The result required careful navigation and content strategy decisions to maintain clarity, cohesion, and purpose across the site.
The Understanding Abuse section was shaped by insights gathered through stakeholder interviews, which highlighted the importance of creating a space that felt supportive, informative, and non-judgmental. Rather than assuming immediate help-seeking behavior.
The content also acknowledges the broader support network surrounding victims and reflects a diverse range of relationship dynamics, making the information accessible, relatable, and empathetic.
Prevention opportunities were designed to make it simple for a wide range of audiences—students, parents, community members, and organizations—to take meaningful action. Whether through volunteering time or contributing financial support, opportunities are clearly organized and easy to navigate, helping visitors quickly understand how they can participate.
The site needed to address complex and emotionally charged topics in a way that was clear, approachable, and trustworthy. Our challenge was to strike a balance between optimism and realism. Every design and content decision, from tone to layout, was made to guide users through difficult conversations in a way that felt supportive, human, and accessible.
