Smart Start MN
A full website rebuild that modernized the brand and gave Minnesota families a faster, clearer place to land.
Case study: full website rebuild for Smart Start MN. Modern brand system, responsive design, faster performance, and clearer content architecture by Aidan Barnard.
Overview
Smart Start MN needed a website that matched the quality of their programs. I led a full rebuild that modernized the brand presentation, restructured the information architecture, and put performance and accessibility at the center of every decision.
Process
- Discovery, stakeholder interviews, and a full content audit.
- Information architecture restructured around real user questions.
- Brand refresh translated into a reusable design system.
- Component-based React build with accessibility and performance budgets.
- SEO migration: redirects, canonicals, structured data, sitemap.
- Launch, analytics, and staff handoff with editing playbook.
Tools
- React, Vite, TypeScript
- Tailwind CSS with custom design tokens
- Figma for design and review
- Lighthouse, Web Vitals, PageSpeed Insights
- Google Search Console and Analytics
Results
Faster mobile performance, clearer program information, and a brand presence that matches the quality of the organization's work. Search visibility improved with semantic structure, structured data, and clean metadata.