What they wanted: website redevelopment

This was a major web development project. West Dunbartonshire needed their website completely redeveloping, and approached us to undertake the work from start to finish.

What we did:

We spent a lot of time compiling a full list of the things this large website would need to do and deliver, and we helped them to prioritise the most important issues for users, so that we could structure the site around those things, and give them maximum priority.

We then produced a design and navigational structure that promoted ease of use and accessibility, wrote several key web applications to allow access to data that was held elsewhere, and improved the editor experience to make it as easy as possible to insert the content into the new site.

What we delivered:

The new website was delivered with an uncluttered design, intended to make it as easy as possible for the users to identify the things they were looking for. We kept the potential distractions as few as possible, though there is always a tension between this goal, and the needs of an organisation, and we had to work hard to help them find the right balance. We identified the key user issues - those affecting the most users, most frequently - and consequently positioned information about libraries, leisure centres, bin collections, and school term dates to be as high profile as possible.

The content generation process was made much easier by our new editing interface, which makes it more likely that the information on the website will be kept up to date. It is crucial that any information is correct, when a user goes to find it, so the fewer barriers there are to maintaining the website, the better off everyone is likely to be!

This was a particularly successful project, in that it has led to an ongoing relationship with West Dunbartonshire, during the course of which we have upgraded their Umbraco installation, built a new intranet, developed their Social Care Directory (in line with new legislative requirements), and added applications to allow access to information about school meal menus, and the booking of football pitches.