Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning

The opportunity: DELWP wanted a customer-centric web presence that enabled them to surface their services by consolidating content from multiple department sites. They wanted to use an agile and iterative method, that allowed them to interact with the project, and deliver work that is continually tested throughout the process.

The challenge: The department had a wide range of websites, all with different designs, outdated content, and high-page-load times, running on an old hosting environment. Another vendor had previously undertaken the analysis and UX portion of the project, so we spent some time understanding that work, identifying gaps, and putting a plan in place to effectively fill the gaps. Ultimately, they wanted the ability to launch multiple sub-sites within very tight timeframes. We created a design system tailored for them that not only supported their content needs, but allowed them to rapidly deploy new sites in a matter of days.

The approach:

1. We reviewed the previous vendor’s material (user stories, product backlog, wireframes and information architecture) and identified gaps from a content and usability perspective.
2. We conducted a half-day stakeholder workshop to understand their business needs, motivations and pain points, and established what the minimal viable product would look like.
3. We made recommendations around the navigational framework and information architecture.
4. We reviewed competitor sites, other sources of inspiration, and DELWP’s updated brand guidelines, to develop a creative baseline to work from.
5. We designed a modular interface system to accommodate 12 sub-sites under the main DELWP site with a variety of generic and customised content components.
6. We worked in an agile process using JIRA, daily stands and sprints, where we created a product backlog which provided DELWP with the opportunity to re-evaluate the priorities throughout the process, sprint by sprint.
7. Hallway testing allowed for final modification recommendations of the navigational framework and information architecture.

Features based on user research:

• A modern, reusable framework, that allows DEWLP to set up and launch new sites quickly.
• A series of content components that can be tailored and configured giving each site its own unique layout.
• The ability to add custom-designed components to the design system, for future content needs.

The outcome:

The main DELWP and 14 other sites went live within six months. DELWP have the ability to create new sites within a few hours, using a series of pre-built designs that have a consistent brand and navigation structure. The sites are also compliant with WCAG Guidelines at a AA level.

“Thank you for all your efforts to get the FFM Vic site up overnight - it was a true team effort. Positive feedback is flowing around FFM and Digital First. It has been a pleasure working with the team. ” - John Kenyon, Manager, Digital & Publications