CMREN
The Central Michigan Recovery and Education Network (CMREN), a Ferris State–led organization that connects a network of SUD (Substance Use Disorder) recovery services, approached our team for a website refresh and support with site maintenance.
OBJECTIVES
CMREN’s existing website had usability issues that made it difficult for users to access critical information. Additionally, their branding lacked cohesion and did not effectively communicate their mission and values. Our goal was to create a website and brand that were accessible, user-friendly, and aligned with CMREN.
CLIENT
Central Michigan Recovery and Education Network (CMREN)
MY ROLE
CMREN WEBSITE
The original CMREN website was cluttered with too many pages and lacked clear messaging, making it overwhelming to navigate. Key information about CMREN’s purpose was buried or confusing, often leading visitors to mistakenly believe it was a recovery service rather than a network that connects recovery resources.
AUDIENCE RESEARCH
To develop a user-centered solution, we conducted research to better understand CMREN’s target audience and stakeholders in relation to their website. Through this process, we discovered the who the CMREN audience was:
CMREN’s Audiences
1. HRSA FORHP Granters
2. Individuals with Substance Use Disorders (SUD)
3. Associate Partners
4. Affiliates & Administrators
6. Greater Community
7. Core Team
8. Governance Council
Primary Audience
We identified three key internal user archetypes: Program Managers (e.g., Angels of Action partners), who coordinate programs; Grant Administrators (e.g., HRSA FORHP grant managers), who handle compliance and reporting; and Network Administrators (e.g., Gail Bullard), who oversee CMREN’s direction. These roles informed design decisions that support internal operations and communication.
Secondary Audience
These reflect the primary audience segments who interact with the CMREN website. These include individuals with substance use disorders (SUD) and their loved ones, among others. The personas were designed to ensure our design decisions aligned with their needs, behaviors, and emotional states.
We also created user journey maps for two external personas—an individual with SUD and a loved one of someone with SUD. These maps helped visualize each user's emotional journey, touchpoints, challenges, and opportunities for support when interacting with the site.
NEW WEBSITE SCREEN FLOW
Recognizing that CMREN’s primary audience includes grant administrators and potential network partners, we streamlined the website to five core pages: Home, About, Partners, News, and Service Site Directories.
CMREN Homepage
The CMREN homepage opens with a carousel of animated stories that introduce the organization, illustrate its role in recovery, and highlight upcoming events—all within a cohesive, brand-aligned design.
The website was built on Wix, with each solution thoughtfully designed to align with the platform’s specific capabilities and constraints. You can view the live CMREN website here: CMREN Website
Restructuring Site Content Around News
Previously, the “News” section was just a single page listing past newsletters—each one linking right back to the website. Other content like resources and updates was scattered throughout the site, making it hard to find and manage.
Website Newsletter Website
We’ve streamlined everything by removing the outdated newsletter list and combining resources, updates, and newsletter content into one centralized, functional News page. Now, all newsletters link directly to their corresponding posts, making the section cleaner, easier to use, and simpler to maintain.
Newsletter Website
The About page
This enhances clarity by clearly communicating who CMREN is through their mission, core initiatives—which shape everything they do—timeline, and organizational diagram. Consistency is maintained through the use of the new branding system, which is applied across all graphics and diagrams.
Within Wix, adjusting the mobile version of the website is straightforward, especially for sections like the timeline that may not automatically adapt perfectly. Wix’s mobile editor allows for fine-tuned control, making it easy to reposition or resize elements to ensure the layout remains clear and user-friendly on smaller screens.
The Partners Page
The Partners page enhances clarity by clearly showcasing all of CMREN’s recovery partners, detailing what each one does and how to access or contact them.
As one of the primary contributors to the website, I formatted the Partners section within a Global Section module, enabling our CMREN clients to easily add or remove partners over time. I designed each partner cell with relevant imagery and information, addressing a key challenge in Wix where logos were automatically zoomed in and improperly displayed. To fix this, I added white space in Photoshop to ensure consistent presentation. Our team also later identified a simple Canva workaround so clients can easily prepare future logos without needing advanced tools.
The News Section
This solution improves clarity by consolidating all CMREN activities into one organized section of the website, replacing the previously scattered layout. Categories are clearly labeled at the top of the page, allowing users to quickly filter and find relevant content.
The Wix Blog feature allows the team to effortlessly create, update, or remove posts while organizing them with categories and tags that highlight their connection to specific grants, partnerships, or CMREN initiatives.
News Post Types
CMREN’s blog posts now use written content in a unified format through the Wix Blog, replacing flyer images and creating a more streamlined experience. The Impact Summary highlights key activities from the fiscal year, with links to the previous website and external resources included throughout.
Recovery Story CMREN Event Impact Summary
Predefined layouts and paragraph styles make it easy to add updates without overcrowding the News section.
Recovery Resources
This solution centralizes recovery resource information in one accessible pop-up location, allowing individuals to quickly find the help they need. User can filter service locations by county using category tags.
By using Wix’s Store Mapper feature, the map maintains a uniform appearance and function across pages, while also allowing resources and categories to be easily added or removed as needed.
Creating PDF DOwnloads
Previously, CMREN's team was unsure how to make downloadable PDFs available on the website, so they just added documents as images. We resolved this by implementing a way for users to easily download important documents directly from the site.
before after
MOBILE SCREENS
The website’s mobile version was developed in tandem with the desktop version, providing users across all devices with easy and reliable access to important information and resources.
Building a Branded PowerPoint System for CMREN
I used PowerPoint’s Slide Master to design reusable templates for CMREN, ensuring brand consistency across presentations. This included setting up standardized layouts, integrating logos and footers, and resolving formatting issues. The result was a flexible, easy-to-use template system the team could maintain long-term.
