Durham, NC -- (SBWire) -- 07/09/2009 -- This week the National Institute of Statistical Sciences (NISS) is launching a newly designed website after recruiting the services of DesignHammer to undertake the project earlier this year. NISS is an independent research organization formed by organizations in the statistical sciences community, Triangle universities, and organizations in 1991 performing research for predominantly national governmental and industrial clients. Their clients include national governmental and industrial clients including the National Cancer Institute, National Center for Health Statistics and US Department of Health and Human Services.

Improvements from the former website include a refined modern appearance with increased ease of navigation and less clutter. On the website, NISS shares ample information including organizational news, publications, position papers, and select research. The organization provides cross-disciplinary research involving the statistical sciences and maintains summaries of their various projects within the research and publication sections of their website.

Due to the large quantity of research the site contains, organization and usability have a significant impact on the effectiveness of the website as easy discovery of documents is critical to the purpose of the website. After reviewing the former site, the design team focused a great deal of attention on organizational aspects for the new website.

As part of the redesign, the website received new site architecture and a Drupal-based content management system. Drupal is a cost-effective, simple content management system that allows individuals at the organization to maintain content without assistance from a professional web designer. Jamie Nunnelly, Communication Director from NISS remarked that, “Comments about the site are that it is much easier to use and find what you’re looking for. It also has a much more contemporary look than the old website. DesignHammer is a great organization to work with. They did a great job of listening and developing a comprehensive design plan.”

The new National Institute of Statistical Sciences website is now live at www.niss.org. Other examples of DesignHammer websites can be found at the company’s website www.designhammer.com. Select client websites for viewing include RTI International, Habitat for Humanity Orange County and Durham Bulls Baseball Club.