AIIJ Website Redesign and iRoom Platform Launch

• The website’s performance was poor due to broken sections and heavy reliance on outdated plugins.
• The cluttered design didn’t represent AIIJ’s mission or brand identity.
• SEO rankings were low, making it difficult for people to find them online.
• They needed a new platform, iRoom, but had only a vague idea of how it should function.

We began by thoroughly understanding AIIJ’s vision. During our initial discussions, they mentioned their desire for a separate platform for stories. Though the idea wasn’t fully formed, we worked closely with them through multiple iterations to get it just right.

1. Redesigning the Main Website: We created a sleek, professional design that better represented AIIJ’s brand and mission. The new site was built with a focus on speed and user experience.
2. Custom Content Management System: We built a custom CMS to replace the reliance on plugins, making content management intuitive and efficient.
3. Developing iRoom: After several rounds of brainstorming and prototyping, we built iRoom as a dedicated platform for sharing investigative stories. It supports multimedia content, making it perfect for modern storytelling.
4. SEO Optimisation: We didn’t stop at building the site—we also optimised it for search engines and set up AIIJ’s Google profile and search console.

• The new website is 70% faster and far more reliable, with zero dependency on outdated plugins.
• SEO improvements led to significantly higher search engine rankings—AIIJ now appears at the top when searching for investigative journalism in Uganda.
• iRoom became a go-to platform for investigative stories, helping AIIJ reach a broader audience.
• The clean, modern design established credibility and improved user engagement.