A scalable digital foundation for a nationally recognized nonprofit

Older Adults Technology Services (OATS), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit based in New York City and a subsidiary of AARP, sought to redesign their website to better reflect their current activities, operational scale, and evolving identity. Over five years, OATS experienced rapid growth across programming, partnerships, and national visibility, while its digital infrastructure lagged behind.

The existing version of OATS.org no longer reflected the organization’s visual identity, strategic maturity, or the scope of its impact. Beyond aesthetics, the site struggled to clearly communicate the relationship between OATS and its flagship program, Senior Planet, and did not adequately support reporting, data transparency, or internal operational workflows increasingly required by funders, government partners, and enterprise collaborators.

The challenge was not simply a redesign, but the creation of a future ready platform that could scale with OATS’s mission, support data driven storytelling, and serve both public facing audiences and internal operational needs.

Herospace partnered closely with OATS leadership, including the Executive Director and Director of Communications, to align messaging, structure, and technical direction with both OATS and AARP brand standards. The collaboration went beyond traditional web design, focusing on how digital systems could support OATS’s operational reality and long-term growth.

The website was designed to clearly position OATS as the parent organization while reinforcing Senior Planet as its flagship initiative, with intentional linking and narrative continuity between oats.org and seniorplanet.org. Original photography and program focused storytelling were integrated to humanize impact, while structured content areas highlighted partnerships, research, thought leadership, and measurable outcomes.

From a technical perspective, Herospace designed and implemented backend systems that supported advanced data visibility and reporting. This included custom export and analytics tooling integrated with the organization’s BuddyBoss powered community platform, enabling OATS to generate detailed reports on user engagement, participation, activity trends, and program reach. These tools allowed the team to produce funder ready data, internal performance reports, and longitudinal insights without relying on external vendors or manual data compilation.

Recognizing that OATS serves corporations, nonprofits, and government entities, the platform was built to balance clarity, credibility, and transparency. The result was a site that not only told the story of OATS’s mission, but also demonstrated its effectiveness through real data, systems, and outcomes.

The backend work was especially important because OATS needed more than a standard content website. Their team needed practical reporting tools connected to a BuddyBoss-powered community environment. We supported that need with custom export and analytics functionality that helped administrators access structured engagement and participation information without relying on heavy, one-size-fits-all plugins.

Herospace, in collaboration with the OATS team, delivered a cohesive, scalable, and highly usable digital platform that reflects the organization’s belief in the limitless potential of older adults to transform their lives and communities.

The redesigned site successfully aligned OATS’s visual identity, messaging, and technical infrastructure into a single unified experience. Strategic user experience design and purposeful storytelling elevated OATS’s national presence, while the underlying systems empowered staff with tools to manage content, generate reports, and track engagement independently.

In addition to a visually engaging and accessible website, OATS gained a robust digital foundation that supports ongoing program growth, data driven decision making, and accountability to funders and partners. The platform is easy to maintain, adaptable to future initiatives, and positioned to evolve alongside OATS’s mission for years to come.