Design Thinkers Academy
A global innovation education network spanning 11 hubs across 25 countries, 3 languages, and 10 administrators. Full digital strategy, analytics, SEO, and marketing.
+18% boost in signups after optimising for AI
11 hubs representing 25 countries, 3 different languages, maintained by 10 different administrators from – The DesignThinkers Academy network is a series of subsites in a network providing each administrator with access to their own section of the overall website. Admins have the ability to build their own features, adjust design elements and personalise their pages.
We built a custom calendar plugin for admins to easily build courses, control calendar displays and feature courses from other hubs, as well as a custom banner builder and signup procedure. We utilise a Content Delivery Network and Object Caching to provide a fast browsing experience to all hubs across the globe, ensuring all participants have a great user experience when accessing course descriptions and materials.
In 2026 we restructured their content and a redeveloped their website with AI efficiency in mind, leading to a consistent +12% boost in traffic and +18% increase in course sign ups! We were confident that changing direct for AI was important, but were still blown away with the results.
Optimising for AI - Immediate return on investment
In 2026, users are regularly looking for answers directly via AI tools rather than clicking through to websites in a google search. AI optimisation is about making sure the content your write is clear and readable to these answer engines so they can easily city and summarise.
- Code Structure - We made use of Schema markup and reworked the HTML for AI, paying close attention that courses, the calendar and products were marked up exactly how AI like's it.
- Content - We collaborated with DTA to make some key changes to content so it is as suitable as possible for AI, adopting Q&A formats, optimising headings and defining terms and entities clearly via concise summary blocks.
- Technical Hygiene - beyond ensuring the site was performant, we paid particular attention to fast page loads, mobile-first layouts, and clear URL structures.
AI engines are trained to find the most trustworthy, clearly-stated, factually-grounded answer to a question, and it's our job to make their task easier. By reworking Pop's website into a natural Q&A language style, backed by real proof of expertise and proficiency, and marked up with structured data, we saw a tangible increase in users accessing the site.
UX Audit, Workshop, Research & Design
As with most projects at Instance, we kicked off the project with a User Experience Audit followed by a collaborative workshop with DTA. The Audit allows us to create issues and talking points to explore and solve during the workshop to make the best use of everyone's time. This workshop allowed us to align on organisational goals, audience needs, and key challenges, forming a solid foundation for all design and technical decisions to build an accurate scope.
The Instance team then took the workshop findings and build upon them with research, before entering a UX Design phase to produce a prototype sitemap, url structure & content strategy, and the beginnings of page layouts and component definitions.
A global innovation education network spanning 11 hubs across 25 countries, 3 languages, and 10 administrators. Full digital strategy, analytics, SEO, and marketing.
