ACTRIS new website is live!

Trust-IT Services has delivered a new and improved version of the ACTRIS web portal, providing a better user experience to its community.

The web portal is the main access point and digital presence online for the ACTRIS, which is the European research infrastructure working on the observation of aerosol, clouds and trace gases. 

Serving a vast community of users working on atmospheric research, climate and Earth system and air quality models, satellite retrievals, weather analysis and forecast systems, ACTRIS offers high-quality data and research infrastructure services for atmospheric aerosol, clouds, and trace gases.

Giulia Saponaro, Communication Officer of the Interim ACTRIS Head Office and ACTRIS lead on the project, said: “We are excited about the launch of the new website. ACTRIS is developing at a fast pace and Trust-IT Services responded to our requests and expectations by providing an agile and scalable platform that also visually conveys ACTRIS as a modern, attractive infrastructure. The platform represents a step forward ACTRIS becoming an operational research infrastructure-indeed an important achievement. We are proud of the work developed in collaboration with Trust-IT Services!”

Methodical Approach

The project, launched in September 2020, began with comprehensive requirements gathering by Trust-IT and ACTRIS. All user types of the website were identified and were mapped against the current website structure. 

Trust-IT performed a comprehensive analysis of the users and compared this with the current content and user pathways through the ACTRIS website. Gaps were identified and proposals for changes in website structure and additional content were made. This allowed ACTRIS and Trust-IT to plan a more user-centric web portal. 

Overseeing the delivery of the ACTRIS web portal project, Trust-IT Project Manager Rob Carrillo said, “The new ACTRIS web portal provided us with an opportunity to really understand the needs of the ACTRIS community, making the exercise both challenging and stimulating for the team. In the end, I believe this result is a clear example of how Trust-IT enables research infrastructures in better engaging their community.”

Evocative visuals

At the same time, an analysis of its visual identity was carried out and Trust-IT’s graphics team worked to refresh the visual messaging of the web portal. Trust-IT Services also branded its key offerings making them more identifiable by users.

Trust-IT’s graphics lead on the project, Andrea Greco said, “Drawing from the spirit of the old website, I brought in modern design elements and I took inspiration from ideas that convey the atmosphere, clouds and the sky - ideas that ACTRIS was closely associated it and translated it into the latest design best practices. Now, ACTRIS has a portal that perfectly reflects it.” 
 

Knowledge hub

While the ACTRIS web portal also engages external stakeholders, it also was meant to be a platform for internal ACTRIS team members to work together and the main easy access and reference point for ACTRIS users to use ACTRIS services.

Trust-IT Services CTO and technical lead for the project Alessandro Petrocelli said, “We treated the ACTRIS project as more than a simple website development project. We ensured the current web portal was future-proof especially considering that this portal will be the foundation for more technical implementations that ACTRIS is planning”.  Alessandro highlighted the web portal is designed to accommodate external sources of information to be accessed through the portal through APIs and has also provided an internal layer that will allow ACTRIS members to work together through an internal workspace, repository and communication tools such as instant messaging and videoconferencing plugins.