July 30, 2024

UC Davis Institute for Food and Health Website Design

Making food science palatable with a website redesign

Ranked the second-best university in the world for agriculture and forestry, UC Davis is the ideal institution to study food. And the food industry needs top-of-the-line research and innovative scientists to produce healthier solutions for families. The UC Davis Innovation Institute for Food and Health bridges the gap between the two. They are the gold standard in collaborative research projects that make the foods people love healthier. They also create opportunities for academia and the food and health industry to collaborate through the annual Partner Summit, Discovery Forums, and thematic symposiums.

With so much ground to cover in such little time, the small but mighty UC Davis marketing team knew they wanted to bring in a website design firm with expertise in UX-centered design. The institute is a complex organization with many facets. They needed each one outlined in a way digestible to their target audience, which includes Chief Science Officers of leading food companies, corporate venture capital arms, food and health investors, foundations, family offices, and even the Department of Defense. Also, they want to appeal to up-and-coming leaders in food and health by highlighting their impressive Fellowship Programs that partner with mission-aligned venture-capitalist firms.

Our challenge was incorporating their new strategic direction, vision, and mission and highlighting their core competencies for current and future partners. They chose to work with e9digital because we were recommended to the institute by their colleague at Cornucopian Capital.

A feast for the senses starring user-friendly design

“I like that we can highlight recruiting for fellows, and they see that when they first come to the website.” Marissa Pickard, Lead Community Coordinator | UC Davis Innovation Institute for Food and Health

Whether it’s a CSO or an up-and-coming scholar interested in food science, the website visitor must find the unique niche they’re looking for on UC Davis’s website quickly. Our task was to simplify a complicated system to cleaner messaging that showcased UC Davis’s expertise to their multi-layered target audience.

We crafted an easy-to-follow flow using UX best practices. The institute’s breakthrough research is the number one service they want to push forward, so we made “View our Research” the CTA of the hero image and placed that link first in the header, pairing it with one of UC Davis’s classic colors, Aggie Gold. Each service area was paired with a different color in the header, visually marking each option for the viewer.

Additionally, members of the scientific community may not be as familiar with social media–they’re too busy solving the world’s problems! We included an arrow pointing down at the bottom of the homepage so that visitors know to scroll for more info, increasing engagement and educating the target audience. And if they miss the memo, it’s no problem–they can get to any page on the website from the header.

“I love that you capture so many major points on the landing page right away with the three extra bubbles on the right as well. Our research is the core of what we do, so it’s nice that’s there first. Marissa Pickard, Lead Community Coordinator | UC Davis Innovation Institute for Food and Health

Using the circular theme to support scientific events that change the food game

Events are another piece of the institute’s puzzle. They hold events for their target audience to come together, network, and learn about advances in food science. To highlight these unique opportunities for food scientists, the homepage includes three circles to the right of the hero image to feature upcoming events and other big wins, such as secured funding. They click and head straight to the event page, where they can learn more about it and if it’s impactful to their research or business.

Coming full circle: tying in food and the institute’s global network

A clean design should have both appeal and meaning to the target audience. Our designers used circles heavily throughout the website to create a theme that framed the content with the institute’s logo and their global network. The institute wants to encourage their target audience to join them on their mission to overcome challenges in food production and health. 

​​This is a case where understanding the goals helps us fine-tune the site exactly to meet the needs of the target through a UX that crystallizes the salient points and makes the overall education more digestible. Within each highly specific interior page, we used a mix of circular graphics and text to streamline messaging and encapsulate the vast possibilities available when working with the UC Davis Innovation Institute for Food and Health.  

The impact? Venture capitalists can instantly understand the institute’s capability and can trust them to move the needle forward on food health.

A website that helps make the future of food brighter

“e9digital created a website for my organization, the Innovation Institute for Food and Health at UC Davis. We are a complex organization with a lot of varied activities and therefore not a simple website to design. e9 not only managed to communicate what we do incredibly well, they also made a beautiful and professional website. It was also a literal joy to work with the team. Highly recommended!” - Kim Fisher, Director of Programs | UC Davis Innovation Institute for Food and Health

The team at the UC Davis Innovation Institute for Food and Health now has a robust, flexible website they can change and shape to:

  • Showcase their research 
  • Secure new talent 
  • Inform about events 
  • Share their market impact.

They can communicate their capabilities to their target audience and use this website as a sales tool to gain more funding for their research. With this new website, the sky’s the limit for how the institute can improve the future of food.

At e9digital, we take a walk in the shoes of your target audience to make a website that speaks to their needs. We create the design but teach you how to make changes moving forward so that your content can always be fresh and exciting to your customers. If you offer complicated services that are difficult to understand, contact us to discuss how we can simplify and strategize to increase conversion rates.