When Babilou Family US asked us to redesign the websites of its three American brands—Little Sprouts, Building Blocks, and Heartworks—we immediately recognized the scale of the challenge: to create a robust and modern platform capable of supporting different identities, while building a common foundation for the future. It was a demanding project, carried out internationally and coordinated in English with the US teams, which gave us the opportunity to apply the best of our Drupal expertise.
The context: three brands, one common mission
Babilou Family US is the parent company of three nursery and early childhood school networks in the United States: Little Sprouts (Massachusetts & New Hampshire), Building Blocks (Connecticut), Heartworks (Vermont).
Their mission: to provide caring, quality education to children ages 0 to 5, while supporting families and attracting new educational talent.
Their digital challenges were threefold:
- Aging WordPress sites that were underperforming and difficult to manage.
- The need to transform their online presence into a driver of acquisition for families and recruitment of talent.
- A true growth strategy: attracting and integrating new schools into the Babilou Family US network.
The ambition of the project
- Unify without standardizing: have a common foundation while respecting the identity of each brand.
- Enhance user experience: for two main audiences, millennial parents (center search, tour booking) and Generation Z candidates (quick and mobile-first application process).
- Ensure technical integrations: with their internal tools (LineLeader CRM, Lever ATS, Center Data Manager, Didomi).
- Think long-term: guarantee scalability, maintenance, and future integration of new schools into the platform.
Our approach: the Drupal "Core Model
To address these challenges, we proposed building a Drupal 10 Core Model, a true foundation that allows the deployment of multiple brand sites, each with its own visual identity but based on the same functional scope. In other words, the Core Model acts as a base of features, components, and configurations that can simply be duplicated and customized for each brand in the group.
We designed this Core Model first for the Little Sprout brand. It will be duplicated and then customized for the Heartworks and Building Blocks brand sites with a few adaptations:
- the visual identity (fonts, colors, logos),
- some visual effects (e.g., the wave from the Little Sprouts logo),
- some component variations, while keeping the same functional logic.
The application maintenance is also based on this principle: all updates are made to the core, then automatically inherited by each site.
The project’s technical structure is built on our Drupal starter. The Drupal Starter is a Drupal base created in-house and built on our 25 years of experience. It includes the most useful configurations and features, enabling economies of scale and rapid deployment.
Our methodology
UX Design with Design Sprint
Design is not limited to aesthetics: it must offer a smooth and coherent journey. To properly frame this crucial step, we conducted a Design Sprint with:
- Sector-specific UX benchmarking: analysis of industry best practices and competitors.
- Clear and intuitive structure: defining a content structure that is clear and easy to understand.
- User journeys modeled: modeling typical user paths (families, applicants) to anticipate every key interaction.
- Wireframes validating conversion funnels: designing functional prototypes to validate navigation logic and main conversion funnels.
UI Design & Design System (Figma)
- No existing graphic charter: we were inspired by the logos and the wave symbolism, using natural colors that are not childish.
- Set up a catalog of modular components based on Atomic Design, a principle which involves breaking down the interface into reusable building blocks (links, forms, icons, buttons, color, shape, cards, accordions, etc.).
Technical deployment
- Development and integration of components in Storybook.
- Drupal 10 configuration: roles, permissions, Layout Builder.
- Connecting to third-party systems (CRM, ATS, Data Manager, Didomi).
- Hosting on Microsoft Azure, involving strict security constraints: we had to adapt to internal standards, sometimes at odds with Drupal’s native behaviors, requiring extensive integration and validation work.
- Webmastering & skills transfer: launch of the first site, training for Babilou teams.
A central business approach at the heart of the group’s digital transformation
Building the Conversion Funnel for Families
At the heart of Babilou Family US’s mission is helping families find a high-quality center. That’s why we designed a clear and reassuring conversion funnel, tailored to the needs of millennial parents: speed, transparency, and simplicity.
- Center locator: a dynamic map coupled with a search engine based on an address or a route (such as home to work).
- Center presentation pages (daycares, schools): each center has a detailed profile, with a description, photos, available services, schedules, and the educational team.
- Visit form: a simple, mobile-first process allowing families to book an appointment online to discover a center.
Building the conversion funnel for candidates
Attracting and recruiting new educational talent was the other strategic priority. We designed a modern, mobile-first candidate journey, perfectly suited to the expectations of Generation Z: speed, transparency, and smoothness.
- Job search page: intuitive search engine with filters (position, location, contract type).
- Job offer presentation pages: clear job descriptions highlighting benefits, company values, and career prospects.
- Application form: a fast, mobile-optimized process that reduces the number of steps and allows for simplified CV upload.
Complete setup and monitoring (SEO, GDPR, Analytics)
To maximize the performance and efficiency of the platform, we have implemented a comprehensive tracking and compliance system:
- Google Tag Manager Containers (GTM): centralized management of all scripts and marketing tags.
- Tagging plan: tracking of key events (clicks on “Request a visit,” form submissions, applications, etc.) to accurately measure performance.
- GDPR Management via Didomi: implementation of a consent management platform, ensuring compliance and transparency for users.
- SEO optimization: integrated from the design stage.
Integrations with third-party systems via API
One of the major technical challenges of this project was to ensure smooth integration with the internal tools already in place, so that the US teams could work efficiently without any interruptions to their workflow.
- Lever ATS: automatic retrieval of job postings and submission of applications directly into the group ATS.
Center Data Manager: synchronization of the list of centers and associated information. - LineLeader CRM: real-time transmission of visit requests.
- Didomi: centralized management of user consent.
Thanks to these integrations, the platform fits into the existing Babilou Family US ecosystem, avoiding double entry and ensuring that data is up to date.
Challenges and Lessons Learned from the Project
We would like to warmly thank the Babilou Family US teams for their trust and collaboration.
We have identified three main challenges and key learnings from this project:
- Azure hosting constraints: adapting to security standards, with significant learning and adjustments.
- Project management: a second Babilou team joined during the course of the project, requiring coordination in an international context.
- Controlled scalability: thanks to the shared core, each new site can be deployed quickly and in alignment with the others.
Are you considering an ambitious digital overhaul, multi-site, or with strong technical requirements? Let’s talk about your project!
Reference URL: https://littlesprouts.com/
Project dates: November 2024 - September 2025
Babilou Family US
For more information, you can consult our case study on the subject.
