The Australian Submarine Agency (ASA) launched in 2023 with an ambitious national mission: to support the growth of a highly skilled nuclear submarine workforce over the next three decades. They needed to rapidly establish their own website and digital identity, but the platform had to do more than support a quick migration. It needed to be flexible enough to evolve with ASA’s strategic goals, strengthen engagement with the community, and support the agency’s long-term role in Australia’s nuclear-powered technology ecosystem.
In collaboration with Kirra Services, we became ASA’s digital partner during a period of rapid organisational change. Our first priority was to help the agency transition quickly to its own digital presence while creating a stable foundation for future improvements.
We began with a rapid re-platform to Drupal GovCMS SaaS. Through collaborative workshops, we mapped user and business needs, aligned delivery timelines and defined the right solution architecture. A site assessment and heuristic review helped identify immediate opportunities to improve the experience while supporting a fast launch.
Using Civic Theme as a foundation, we built a custom theme that translated ASA’s visual identity into a distinct digital experience. This gave the agency an MVP website with a unique look and feel, while leaving room for iterative improvements as their priorities evolved.
Once the migration was complete and the platform was under ASA ownership, we focused on expanding functionality and improving how the agency communicated its role, priorities and opportunities.
We designed and built bespoke features including a bold new homepage, an industry front door for potential suppliers, and an interactive career quiz for jobseekers. These additions helped ASA better engage with a wide audience, from prospective candidates and industry partners to teachers, families and members of the broader community.
We delivered an MVP quickly, then scaled the platform through iterative improvements that could flex with ASA’s emerging needs.
ASA’s audiences were diverse, and their needs were equally varied. The site needed to help jobseekers explore career options, support industry partners looking to engage, and provide clear information for people wanting to understand ASA’s mission and responsibilities.
To improve content findability, usability and accessibility, we conducted a sitewide content audit supported by tree testing, web traffic analysis and an SEO review. This informed a new information architecture and a set of practical recommendations to strengthen the site’s content performance over time.
A key priority for ASA was helping people understand how they could contribute to Australia’s emerging nuclear submarine workforce. To support that goal, we designed and built an interactive career quiz that guides users toward roles aligned with their strengths and interests.
The quiz presents tailored questions, identifies relevant roles, outlines the qualifications users may need, and helps people picture what a future in the industry could look like. It gives ASA a practical tool to engage prospective candidates early and build awareness of career pathways across the sector.
Beyond design and build, we provided ongoing managed support to host and maintain the platform so it remained secure, compliant and performant. This gave ASA continuity as the site matured and new requirements emerged.
We also prepared the agency for a smooth transition from Drupal 10 to Drupal 11. This included producing an upgrade status report, updating the theme for Drupal 11 compatibility, and conducting an upgrade dry run to reduce risk ahead of the full upgrade.
