Choosing the visual direction for the new AAFS website

At a glance

A factual summary of how the three directions differ. None is better or worse.

The work behind these directions

What we are taking from strong examples

Urgent help that is always visible

Dilico Anishinabek Family Care and Kunuwanimano Child and Family Services make urgent child-safety information highly visible. This informed the persistent urgent-help treatment used throughout the concepts.

Clearer reporting and support pathways

Vancouver Aboriginal Child and Family Services Society and Native Child and Family Services of Toronto distinguish between immediate danger, child-safety reporting, after-hours service and general support. Those situations should not be collapsed into one vague Contact Us pathway.

Supportive, nonjudgmental language

Dnaagdawenmag Binnoojiiyag uses encouraging language that helps normalize reaching out for support. The site should feel welcoming to families seeking help, not only authoritative when reporting a concern.

Communities as part of the service experience

Weechi-it-te-win Family Services places its partner First Nations at the centre of its public presence. Community information should connect people with actual services, offices, workers and contact information.

Finding services by location and need

First Nations Health Authority shows how location and service needs can work together. The opportunity for AAFS is to provide that clarity without recreating an overly large directory.

A more complete careers experience

Native Child and Family Services of Toronto explains workplace culture, benefits, accessibility and the hiring experience before sending visitors to job postings. That is stronger than treating careers as a set of downloadable PDFs.

Simple, task-based navigation

Canada.ca and GOV.UK show the value of organizing information around what a visitor needs to do. This is why each concept begins with situations rather than program names.

Where we saw an opportunity to do better

• A phone number may be visible, but visitors are not told which number applies.
• Program names often appear before the visitor’s actual need.
• Few organizations clearly explain what may happen after someone calls.
• Community and cultural identity may be visible in the storytelling but not reflected in how the website behaves.
• Service, employment and policy information is frequently buried in PDFs.
• General contact forms can invite people to submit sensitive personal or case information.
• Old notices, expired jobs and outdated documents often remain public.

How the findings shaped the concepts

• Urgent help stays visible and separate from general navigation.
• The homepage begins with the visitor’s situation before presenting the full program structure.
• Services use plain language alongside approved program names.
• Key pathways explain what someone can reasonably expect after making contact.
• Community information connects people with real services, offices and contacts.
• The experience is designed for mobile use, accessibility and slower connections.
• Service and employment information is presented as web content, not PDFs.
• Cultural identity is carried through language, relationships, content and behaviour, not decoration.

Why the community finder is list-first

A searchable list is faster, more accessible, easier to use on a phone and easier to keep accurate. It also avoids displaying geographic boundaries that have not been confirmed. An interactive map can be added later if it supports a validated user need and uses approved geographic information. The current approach is a deliberate starting point, not an unfinished version of the experience.

What this review is deciding

All three directions share the same content structure and service principles. What changes is the visual system: typography, use of photography, page composition, spacing and rhythm, navigation treatment and interaction style. The most useful questions today are:

• Which direction feels most representative of AAFS?
• Which feels clearest, safest and most trustworthy?
• Which elements feel authentic?
• What should be changed or avoided?
• Are there elements from another direction that should be carried forward?