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Award Winning Online Tool Saves Bumblebees
An interactive online platform to track how bee-kind your garden is
The Bumblebee Conservation Trust is a UK-based, national charity. They were established in 2006 in response to the increasing concern surrounding the decline of the bumblebee population. A key issue is habitat loss through agricultural intensification. The bee decline has worsened over the past decade, with the endangered species list growing dramatically.
In the last 70 years, two species have become nationally extinct, whilst populations of several others have noticeably decreased. Bumblebees are pollinators, integral to our natural environment through their pollination of crops. The Bumblebee Conservation Trust wants to help bumblebees and the habitats that they depend on through conservation and education.
Tool Design and Functionality
The organisation aims to tackle the problem through their online Bee Kind tool, which scores your garden's bee friendliness. The score is calculated through the types and quantity of plants in your garden. Bee Kind was first developed in 2011 and needed a major overhaul, and that's where our web development agency came in.
The original Bee Kind tool suffered limitations, which needed to be addressed in the new version. Our expert website designers designed the website to be user-friendly, with clear navigation – you can now filter and select from an abundance of different flowers and plants that feature in your garden already to accumulate a score. A full score breakdown, including recommendations, is provided to help and educate.
This bespoke website redesign also included the addition of advanced filters to make finding particular plants a quick, simple process. The webpages are full of information – when certain plants bloom, what is suited to your garden and information about the plants already in your garden, based on the information you provide. Plants can be added to a 'favourite list', which you can return to whenever you like.
The garden score is now easily shareable through all the main social networks, so you can let your friends know how bee-friendly your garden is. This helps create awareness and encourages others to get involved too. You can even create scores for multiple gardens and switch between them with unique plant selections and scores. With an automated system, the scores update in real-time, meaning there's no need for the site to be repeatedly refreshed.
Bespoke Content Management System
The seamless Content Management System (CMS) allows the Trust’s site administrators to use the search filters to quickly find which plants they want to edit. Bee Kind tool also has a MailChimp newsletter integrated to update followers directly. All content and imagery are now easy to update and add to, saving the Trust valuable time.
The website has a clear, attractive layout that reflects the Bumblebee Conservation Trust’s branding. The site is easy to navigate with the handy search feature, alphabetical ordering, and various filters, so users can swiftly find the plant they’re looking for. But if they can't find a particular plant, then there’s an option to inform The Bumblebee Conservation Trust so they can add it to the system.
The Results
The updated Bee Kind tool has proven popular, with increased visitor numbers, including repeat visitors, all discovering how bee-friendly their garden is and how their score can be improved.
There are currently over 650 different flowers and plants on the site, with pictures and fact files to match. This list continues to be added to and updated.
Find out how bee friendly your garden is by trying the BeeKind tool, or visit our services page to find out more information on our web design and development skills.
#BeeKind - Try it for yourself and share your scores on social media!
"We were impressed with Hydra Creative from the moment we met them to discuss the project, right through to completion and launch of our web application. The whole team were friendly, professional, highly-skilled and focused on doing their best for us. We received great quality customer care, a fantastic web application and real value for money. We would definitely consider working with Hydra Creative in the future and would recommend their services to other organisations." - Darryl Cox, Bumblebee Conversation Trust
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