Is a Canberra full service marketing communications,
advertising, design and web agency.
Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations
Study Assist Website - Information architecture strategy, user-interface design, usability and focus group testing, W3C and WCAG 2.0 compliant mark-up and testing
Brief:
Voodoo was engaged to work with the DEEWR SharePoint team in the design and development of a website that would combine information from a number of soon to be decommissioned websites. The amalgamation of content from numerous sites posed a number of challenges, especially with regard to the information arhcitecture.
The identified purpose of the new website was to provide a one-stop shop for all information related to finance for tertiary study.
Solution:
During the early stages of the project, Voodoo completed thorough stakeholder engagement and audience profiling to develop a guiding strategy for the website. This was followed by an extensive process for the preparation of the information architecture. As part of the information architecture process, Voodoo conducted card sorting sessions involving key stakeholders to ensure logical grouping of content. To test the information architecture, Voodoo created a working HTML version of the wireframe with a selection of live pages. Voodoo selected members of the target audience groups to participate in testing facilitated in a usability lab. The participants were posed with scenarios to test their ability to effectively interact with the website and locate information. Adjustments were made to the information architecture based on the testing results. User-interface design principles were applied during the design process to ensure the layout and presentation of content aided user navigation, understanding and consumption of the content. Focus group testing was conducted on the design concepts and refinement undertaken based on feedback. Upon design approval, HTML and CSS was authored to comply with strict compliance requirements, specifically, W3C and WCAG 2.0 to level AA standard.
During the early stages of the project, Voodoo completed thorough stakeholder engagement and audience profiling to develop a guiding strategy for the website. This was followed by an extensive process for the preparation of the information architecture. As part of the information architecture process, Voodoo conducted card sorting sessions involving key stakeholders to ensure logical grouping of content. To test the information architecture, Voodoo created a working HTML version of the wireframe with a selection of live pages. Voodoo selected members of the target audience groups to participate in testing facilitated in a usability lab. The participants were posed with scenarios to test their ability to effectively interact with the website and locate information. Adjustments were made to the information architecture based on the testing results. User-interface design principles were applied during the design process to ensure the layout and presentation of content aided user navigation, understanding and consumption of the content. Focus group testing was conducted on the design concepts and refinement undertaken based on feedback. Upon design approval, HTML and CSS was authored to comply with strict compliance requirements, specifically, W3C and WCAG 2.0 to level AA standard.
Outcome:
The new website has been hailed as a success by internal DEEWR stakeholders. While still in its infancy (the site was launch in December 2011), early indications are that the website is fast becoming an extremely valuable tool for the various audience groups. In complying with W3C and WCAG 2.0 guidelines, the website is at the forefront of compatibility with evolving technologies and accessibility.
