Introducing the revamped Dalton, GA Municipal website, featuring a meticulously redesigned interface prioritizing functionality, accessibility, and aesthetics. Crafted by and for the esteemed residents of Dalton, GA, this user-friendly platform ensures seamless access for individuals of all age groups.
Role
UX Designer - Wireframing, prototyping, interaction, competitive audits, and ideation.
UX Research - User testing, surveys and interviewing.
The Goal
Users have encountered challenges in comprehending densely packed textual content and in locating obscure pages within the current website.
The Challenge
Design and construct a comprehensive, user-friendly website tailored for the City of Dalton, with a primary emphasis on optimizing accessibility and enhancing ease of use for individuals of all ages and diverse backgrounds.
Tools
Figma, Miro, pen & pencil
Scope
1 Month
SEP 2023 - OTC 2023
The target audience for this multi-service platform includes diverse individuals seeking job opportunities, paying fines online, applying for permits/licenses, or accessing travel information, with a focus on creating a user-centric platform to efficiently address their varied needs.
• Accessibility Options
Users found little to no accessibility options within the interface, creating challenges for those with specific needs. Addressing this issue is crucial for ensuring inclusivity and a positive user experience.
• Text Clutter
Users reported that the majority of text within the application is cluttered, making it difficult to read and comprehend. Simplifying the text layout and presentation is essential for improved readability and user understanding.
• Navigation Difficulty
Users expressed the need for easier methods of finding what they're looking for within the application. Enhancing navigation features and optimizing the information architecture can significantly improve the user's ability to locate desired content.
• Missing Icons
The absence of certain icons within the interface makes it more difficult for users to find what should be clear indications. Incorporating relevant icons and visual cues is essential for intuitive navigation and a user-friendly experience.
Following a competitive audit, the key goals for these governmental websites involve delivering comprehensive services with a user-friendly experience, ensuring accessibility for diverse audiences, and establishing a robust brand identity while enhancing navigation and content clarity. Key competitors consist of other official government websites from different regions aiming to provide essential services and resources, showcasing varying qualities in user experience, accessibility, information depth, navigation, and visual design tailored to their audience needs. These competitors position themselves by offering comprehensive services, prioritizing accessibility, establishing strong brand identities, and delivering clear and informative content. Their strengths encompass user-friendly interfaces, accessible design, strong regional ties, and reliable information dissemination, while weaknesses include content overload, non-intuitive navigation, limited interactivity, and potential design datedness. Recognizing opportunities for improvement includes refining user flow, modernizing design, enhancing interactivity, and providing personalized experiences to engage users.
I opted to enhance and refine the existing sitemap to mitigate potential confusion during significant changes. This involved meticulous grouping of each category and subcategory based on their distinct types of categorization, ensuring a more organized and user-friendly navigation experience.
While developing the wireframes, I focused on creating a user-friendly interface for the Moonlight Cafe app, incorporating key elements like promos, popular drinks, and a coffee preview on the main home screen. The design prioritizes seamless navigation, featuring a menu and navigation bar for easy accessibility. These wireframes embody design decisions influenced by user needs and the goal of enhancing the overall cafe ordering experience.
In the usability study, findings revealed that the majority of users expressed a dislike for the dropdown style under endorsements. Additionally, three out of five users desired an easier way to navigate to the homepage from the bottom of the page. Moreover, all users encountered difficulty clicking the download icon due to its small clickable area, highlighting a usability concern in the design.
• The majority of users disliked the dropdown style under endorsements, indicating a need for a more user-friendly presentation of this feature.
• Three out of five users expressed a desire for improved navigation, particularly seeking an accessible way to return to the homepage from the bottom of the page, highlighting the importance of streamlined navigation options.
• All users encountered difficulty clicking the download icon due to its small clickable area, underscoring a usability issue that necessitates attention and potential redesign to enhance overall user interaction.
These insights stress the significance of refining user interfaces to ensure usersatisfaction and efficient navigation throughout the website.
The majority of users states that the drop down menus for each category was unorganized and messy. We corrected this by adding an extra page with added padding in between the selection and a clear download button for users who had trouble downloading.
PrototypeIn conclusion, the usability study uncovered significant insights that played a pivotal role in shaping the design direction of the platform. The findings underscore the importance of addressing user preferences and concerns to create a more user-centric and efficient interface. Key Learnings
• User-Interface Efficiency
The dislike for the dropdown style emphasizes the users' preference for a more intuitive and user-friendly presentation.
• Navigation Enhancement
The desire for improved navigation highlights the need for accessible and streamlined user journeys, particularly a convenient return to the homepage.
• Usability Concerns
The challenge with the download icon's small clickable area points to a critical usability issue that demands attention for a more seamless user interaction.
Possible Next Steps
Moving forward, the platform can benefit from iterative refinement, focusing on optimizing features based on real-world user feedback. Exploring enhancements such as improved navigation options and addressing the usability issue with the download icon can further elevate the platform's appeal. Ongoing user engagement and feedback loops remain integral for continuous refinement, ensuring the platform evolves to meet the dynamic needs and expectations of its users.This concludes the usability study, highlighting the valuable journey from user insights to actionable refinements for an enhanced and user-friendly platform.
