Case Study | Website Redesign
UDIA NSW
The Urban Development Institute of Australia - NSW (UDIA NSW) is the leading industry body representing the interests of the NSW property development sector providing information & events to members and communities they create.
A better user experience for staff and clients
UDIA NSW previously had a dated website that was difficult for staff to manage and difficult for users to navigate. I worked on the UDIA NSW project alongside stakeholders to bring a better user experience and update the design with a more aesthetic and modern feel.
My role
I worked on the UDIA NSW project from initial kick-off through to development. I acted as the UX designer and digital producer for the project. I was the key contact for the client and communicated project goals and requirements to designers and developers.
Understand
To get things started - I first needed to understand the reasoning and need for a website redesign and what the pain points were with the existing website.
To Understand
I conducted two weeks of interviews and workshops with clients and users in order to gather some insight. Upon analysis of the website, it was very clear that a re-design was needed. The navigation titles were cluttered, some pages existed in the site with no intuitive way of a user actually being able to get there and the visual design was extremely dated. As the website had no analytics, user testing throughout would be paramount to the success of the project.
Pain points
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The existing website had a dated CMS -resulting in it being difficult for staff to manage and update
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Lengthy and confusing forms which resulted in users not using forms
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Unclear and repetitive information architecture
Needs
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A clear path for members to navigate to various needed information
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A solution that would manage and alert the admin of user sign-ups, event bookings and memberships renewals
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A refreshed and aesthetically pleasing design
Card Sorting
There were 19 navigation titles on the main menu. It was information overload and understandably overwhelming for anyone viewing the website.
Beyond this, some navigation titles opened up a submenu - and some of these titles in the submenu were already listed in the main menu navigation.
It was clear that we needed to organise what pages were necessary. To do this, I conducted a card sorting group activity with stakeholders from each department of UDIA NSW.
Test, learn, iterate
For 3 weeks I tested concept page flows and wireframes by giving user testers a goal or task to complete. From there, I iteratively updated the page flows and wireframes based on their feedback and my observation.
Some of my discoveries:
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Memberships are complex and can be expensive. Members felt more comfortable speaking with someone as opposed to filling out an online form with potentially incorrect information
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Members regularly look to the website for documentation regarding research - which was difficult to find
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Members wanted to view events that the UDIA NSW held on the website, not on a PDF
Re-design
After the five-week period of discovery and defining, the project was sent to design. In design, we were conscious of not completely changing the direction so as to avoid a change aversion.
Success factors of
UDIA NSW
There were some clear success factors of the project that benefited not only the users but the people managing the website as well.
Human interaction for new members
We removed the lengthy and overwhelming membership form and replaced this with a lead gen form
Introduction of a CRM software
UDIA NSW were previously managing member comms through their dated website backend
Clear and concise information architecture
Through multiple workshops, we managed to cut down on the repeated information
Event & workshops made available online
Events and workshops for members and the public were previously referenced from a PDF
Up to date & aesthetically pleasing design
Through wireframing, I updated the page structure and the team and I worked together to create a new refreshed style
Retrospective
UDIA NSW was a satisfying project to work on. The collaborative workshops with the clients and users were rewarding for all. I’ve always loved information architecture, so discovering solutions for this problem was really gratifying and productive. I’m pleased with the output of this project and proud to see our solution go live!
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