Client Description
The Statistical and Applied Mathematical Sciences Institute (SAMSI) was founded in 2002 and operates out of Research Triangle Park, North Carolina. SAMSI is an applied mathematics and statistics research organization funded by the National Science Foundation. Their focus is to combine statistical and applied mathematical sciences with disciplinary science to confront difficult data and model-driven scientific challenges. The organization facilitates the convergence of established and recent research from academia, industry, and government to define central problems and catalyze research that addresses those problems.
The Challenge
SAMSI’s previous website built on Drupal 6, reached its end-of-life in February of 2016. This meant the community no longer provided support for security updates. Additionally, the website was built with a very rigid content entry workflow. This was a constant uphill battle that forced SAMSI to come up with inefficient workarounds for entering content. In addition to functionality upgrades, SAMSI approached DesignHammer with the desire to refresh their design into a cleaner and more modern look.
The Solution
DesignHammer redesigned the SAMSI website and successfully migrated their Drupal 6 content to a new WordPress CMS. Many of the content editing restrictions were removed in favor of a more free-form workflow. DesignHammer also provided a comprehensive design style guide to help content editors maintain the site’s professional look and feel.
The Results
SAMSI has been able to maintain a well-structured website for years ever since the launch without needing additional developer assistance. SAMSI will occasionally discuss new ideas with DesignHammer and come to find out they can execute most of their ideas on their own.
