FIRS is an influential alliance of nine major international respiratory organisations, representing over 100,000 members worldwide. It exists to promote global lung health through collaboration, advocacy, and policy development. It is a trusted voice in public health conversations at the highest level.
Its digital platform, however, hadn’t kept pace with that reputation. Built on Joomla v3 (now unsupported), the old site was technically fragile, visually dated, and difficult to manage. SEO and accessibility metrics were underperforming, and the information architecture had become fragmented over time.
Project goals
Core project goals included:
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Migrate the website from Joomla to WordPress.
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Redesign the site to reflect FIRS’ position as a global umbrella body.
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Improve accessibility, SEO and performance scores.
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Introduce a clean, modern look using not overly dependant on photography as they can date quickly and require consent.
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Streamline user journeys and improve structure across key content areas.
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Build a flexible resource hub and a purpose-built home for World Lung Day.
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Enhance content governance, including archiving and simplification of older material.
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Lay a foundation for future growth in multilingual content, campaigns and resources.
Solutions
We delivered a full redesign, rebuild and rearchitecture of the FIRS website, ensuring it meets both strategic needs and day-to-day realities for a small international team.
Visual identity & design system
We created a visual system that gave FIRS an immediate uplift – without needing to develop a new logo or brand from scratch. The new design:
- Uses soft, accessible colours and generous whitespace.
- Avoids the reliance on photography that had previously made pages feel generic or inconsistent.
- Introduces custom illustrations and icons to help unify the user experience and humanise the subject matter.
- Establishes hierarchy through thoughtful typography and layout, improving both visual flow and accessibility.
The result is a modern, scalable design that respects FIRS’ scientific credibility while inviting broader engagement.
Structure & user experience
A complete content audit and sitemap refresh helped us reorganise the site around clear, audience-focused journeys. This included:
- A restructured Resources area, with publications, guidelines, position statements and global impact content easily browsable by type.
- A dedicated World Lung Day microsite, including a toolkit, media assets, partner sign-up and get-involved messaging.
- Space for the Global Lung Task Force, allowing for future campaign growth.
- Clarified About section, with streamlined information on FIRS’ mission, members and priorities.
- A new News & Events section, built to house announcements, calendar highlights and awareness days.
We reduced clicks, flattened navigation, and removed dead ends, making key pages easier to find and quicker to load.
Users can now access core information with fewer barriers, whether they’re preparing advocacy materials or just learning about lung health for the first time.
Technology & content management
FIRS now runs on a fast, lightweight WordPress build tailored to their workflows. Features include:
- A modular content editor, allowing the team to build and update pages without developer support.
- Improved content hierarchy and tagging for resource materials.
- Flexible tools for World Lung Day campaigns, including signup forms and downloadable toolkits.
- Cookie consent tools and WCAG-informed markup for better compliance.
- Enhanced performance, with major improvements in Google PageSpeed scores.
We also supported content migration and rationalisation, helping FIRS shed outdated material while preserving legacy value.
The new CMS gives FIRS full control over its content, in a platform that’s secure, scalable, and easier to maintain.
The result
The new firsnet.org is a confident digital hub that better reflects FIRS’ role in the global public health ecosystem. With a clean new design, clearer structure and stronger technical foundation, it supports both day-to-day updates and high-visibility campaigns like World Lung Day.
It’s a platform built to amplify FIRS’ voice; whether they’re publishing policy, promoting awareness, or supporting the thousands of professionals who rely on them.