The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Forensics Lab is singular for many reasons: It's the only crime laboratory of its kind in the world. The victim is an animal. Multiple branches of science collaborate under one roof, with scientists evaluating evidence in an attempt to link suspect, victim, and crime scene.

Daily activities at the Lab are mind-boggling: Imagine working in the evidence room — where they receive boxes full of animal parts. Will it be a wolf? An eagle that got trapped in oil? A suitcase made from an elephant's hide? Envision life as a Lab morphologist, where your "office" is a room with a veritable zoo of dead animals used for identification purposes.

In August 2007, the Lab approached ruby slipper with the huge task of redesigning their site from the ground up. We identified three key audiences: scientists, law enforcement agents, and students and educators — then architected the site with information pertinent to each. We brainstormed interesting ways to communicate the Lab's work, such as Mystery Photos which tell the story about an unusual photograph. We amassed an impressive library of publications and identification notes. And when it came to design, we crafted something decidedly un-bureaucratic, while making sure we followed the government accessibility guidelines and web standards to a tee. The result is a singular site for a singular entity.