We’re proud to announce our Website of the Month winner for June 2017 – Lead The Way Fitness!

An organisation focusing on engaging young people in fitness activities, their website is optimised to answer their users’ questions, with parallax scrolling of the homepage guiding them through the key points. The call-to-action rollovers and aspirational photos also add energy to the user journey, making it a strong site well-primed for its target audience.

We sat down with Matthew Cardiff, lead designer and programmer for the site.

What is Lead the Way Fitness and what does the website do?

In 2014, five local authorities in the West Midlands announced that unhealthy diet and lack of exercise was costing the NHS £117 million a year. Davey Carns, CEO of Lead The Way Fitness understood the impact this would have on society and realised that action must be taken immediately to help ensure that both young people and the UK economy do not suffer.

Lead the Way Fitness engages young people through fitness activities, initiatives, and projects which provide health, fitness, and nutritional education in and out of the classroom. We use the latest researched principles of health and fitness to achieve optimum results. We are proud to state that over 15,000 children have taken part in our projects to date.

How does the site support and drive the company’s goals?

The website provides information on the impact that lack of exercise is having on youth, and increases awareness for the challenges that face both local authorities, parents, and children. It also highlights the ground-breaking work the company has been doing by engaging with young people and making exercise fun while also emphasising the importance of working together to build a better tomorrow.

What would you say the website’s personality is?

The website builds an emotional connection with its user base, as well as works to change perceptions. The theme is welcoming, using negative space, colour, texture, and shape without overwhelming the audience with content.

When you designed the website, did you design with the customer in mind or did you have a fixed idea on how you wanted to portray your brand online?

We wanted to create an experience that would be user-friendly and easy to navigate. We didn’t want the site to be bland and uninteresting, so we focused on using subtle animations and imagery that makes the site more engaging and interactive while also not detracting from the core message.

What’s your favourite thing about the website?

My favourite element is the full-width slider that helps to set the tone for the site as soon as the user lands on the home page. The call-to-action buttons offer interactivity while the imagery helps to fully immerse the user in the Lead The Way Fitness philosophy.

What do you think makes this site different from your competitors?

The site is modern, clean, and user-friendly, all of which are key web design tenets that will ensure a high level of user engagement. The informative nature of the website also demonstrates the importance of inspiring the next generation – increasing inclusion and reducing the impact unhealthy lifestyles have.

Do you have any future plans for the site?

We’re looking to develop and advertise new projects and stories, as well as implementing an events calendar, customer booking facility, job board, and web-based messenger. We’ll also be live-streaming events, and integrate other social media channels as well as providing a place for people to upload their stories of using our company.

We also want to develop a series of videos that showcase the great work we do, which will be embedded in our own video channel as well as within the homepage slider.

Thanks, Matthew! And congratulations again for winning!

If you think you could be the next Website of the Month, visit our Website of the Month Facebook post and submit your site!

Please see our previous post for further details.