The rules of redesign.

Hosting 70 programs each year with a staff of two, the Human Resources Management Association of Chicago, a 600-member trade association, was in need of a new Web site that would save staff time and give members access to more information. "Our site was five years old and not very contemporary in terms of design and functionality," says HRMAC president and CEO M. Bernadette Patton, CAE. "We wanted to update our communication strategy and use technology more effectively."

Patton initiated the redesign of the association's Web site by seeking out volunteers who had expertise in this area. They formed a Web site committee of the two staff and four members. The committee members shopped other association sites to help develop the model and site map for the new HRMAC site. The committee also reviewed proposals from vendors bidding to redesign the site. Key elements of the redesign were online payment processing and the development of a members-only section.

The new site was launched in October 2004, and so far the response has been positive. "The per-visit time for the site has increased 30 percent from five minutes to eight minutes," says Patton. "We are also seeing a lot of new companies join through the site. And we hear good feedback about the site from members and volunteer leaders, who feel that the association's image has been enhanced by the contemporary look and increased functionality of the new site."

Patton offers these suggestions to small-staff associations considering a Web site redesign:

* Give yourself plenty of time. "We only allowed ourselves a week to test the beta site," says Patton. "This would have been fine if we had a larger staff. We did not really have enough time to test the functionality of the site as much as we would have liked to."

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* Don't try to make it perfect. Members will be forgiving if the site isn't perfect as long as they feel that you are working to provide them with innovation and increased benefits.

* Be prepared to teach and train members. Your members may need your help to use all the features of your new site. For example, you may have to help them log into the members-only section the first time.

* Get documentation. You do not want to have to call technical support for everything. Make sure that you have reference materials that outline how to use your site.

* Engage members in providing content for the site. Keeping content fresh can be a challenge. HRMAC members can submit articles online for approval and possible publication on the association's Web site.

"We're taking baby steps," Patton says, but she believes the redesigned site will help the association strengthen its value to the core membership while providing opportunities to broaden its reach and build relationships beyond its current base.