About This Project
The Devenish Partnership Forum was formed in response to the identified need to combat high levels of deprivation within its catchment area, which is ranked the most deprived area in Fermanagh. Working across the local Neighbourhood Renewal Area, the cross-community organisation provides a welcoming environment through playgroups, youth initiatives, and senior citizen programmes aimed at reducing isolation. However, they identified significant administrative pressures caused by paper-based programme registration, payment handling, manual attendance tracking, and fragmented communication processes. The agreed project focused on co-designing a simple, accessible digital solution that combines an online event booking system, a landing page, digital newsletters, and user registration tools to reduce administrative burden while ensuring no community member is excluded.
Design Thinking Workshops
The Design Thinking Workshop was held on 19 January 2026. A group of 13 participants, comprising both staff and service users, engaged in Journey Mapping, Define, Ideation, Prototype, and Testing activities. The workshop’s primary focus was finding ways to reduce administration, improve the registration process, increase digital accessibility, and centralise communications. The insights gathered led directly to the development of a hybrid approach that accommodates both digital and non-digital users.
Deliverables
STRIDE deliverables included:
• Delivered between January and August 2026, the STRIDE deliverables included:
• Implementation of a SaaS online event booking and registration platform.
• Development of a quarterly digital newsletter template and a dedicated landing page.
• Integration of QR code access for events and streamlined communications.
• Creation of a digital event calendar and digital participant registration tools.
• Introduction of annual user registration and membership management concepts to reduce duplicate data entry.
• Creation of tutorial and guidance materials to successfully support platform adoption among users.
Results & Impact
The primary technical outcome was the successful launch of a centralized calendar and booking system that streamlines participation for a wide array of activities—from early years programmes to allotment initiatives. This transformation has had a major community impact by severely reducing the administrative burden on staff and alleviating the stress and frustration for service users associated with repeated paper registrations.
By employing a hybrid communication strategy, large text, and simple navigation, the platform improves accessibility and ensures no one is left behind. Service users now enjoy a single source of truth for programme information, leading to enhanced engagement through newsletters and increased opportunities for participation via new expression-of-interest features.