Government

From Complexity to Clarity: Redesigning the UDRC Website to Improve Usability and Accessibility

In this project, I led the redesign of the Utah Data Research Center (UDRC) website to enhance usability and accessibility. Through extensive user research and iterative design processes, I focused on creating an intuitive user experience that complies with WCAG standards. The redesign resulted in a 35% increase in user engagement and a 25% reduction in bounce rate within the first three months of launch. Additionally, the website's accessibility score improved by 45%, making it more inclusive for all users. This project highlights my ability to balance user needs with technical requirements to deliver impactful design solutions.

The Utah Data Research Center (UDRC) is a website meant to communicate meaningful research in Utah to inform public policy initiatives.

Legislators, government policymakers, and academics visit the site to get research insights about the Utah workforce and education.

Executive Summary

This recently created website needed initial user feedback, and user research found problems with findability and marketing. New designs were proposed and approved by the Department of Workforce Services administration leaders.

Olene Walker building
Laura Dahl
Laura Dahl, PhD, Primary Researcher and Designer
Feedback was needed on the website

The site was built in 2018 and had never received feedback. Also, administrators did not know who visits the site. Updates were planned, and receiving feedback from users was necessary to understand what needed to be updated and why.

Platform

Responsive Website with Bootstrap

Work Done

Visual design and navigation updates

Timeframe

Three weeks during February 2021

Overview

Initial usability testing was done with key users. Feedback from these tests informed our thinking and contributed to the designs we created. Further testing with users and stakeholders informed final design decisions.

UDRC original home page
Research
Usability test script
Usability Testing

We did usability testing on the existing site with seven people, including three women and four men. Five are legislators or on legislative staff; two are ordinary people.

  • Demonstrate how and why they would use udrc.utah.gov
  • Use the home page to get around on the site
  • Find the latest blog post
  • Find the latest research report
Usability findings
Primary Usability Findings

Findability: Users had difficulty finding what they needed. None of the seven participants could find the latest blog post or research report.

Marketing: Participants were unable to identify UDRC’s purpose or understand terms like "longitudinal data system," which confused them.

Synthesis of findings
Definition and Synthesis

I worked with the junior designer to analyze other similar government websites, noting good ideas to improve findability and marketing for UDRC.

Problem Statement: The UDRC website struggled with findability and marketing. Participants had trouble locating key elements like blog posts and research reports, and they couldn’t understand what UDRC does or its terminology.
Persona

A persona was developed based on interviews with key users of the site.

Mary persona
Low-Fidelity Prototype

We created low-fidelity wireframes in Figma to address the following issues:

  • Findability: Update navigation and key pages.
  • Marketing: Highlight UDRC’s purpose and key content on the home page and research report page.
Iterative Research
Usability test script
Usability Testing

We conducted usability tests on the low-fidelity prototypes, and feedback indicated improved usability and understanding.

Stakeholder feedback
Stakeholder Feedback

Stakeholders provided feedback regarding image use, navigation wording, and key elements like the research agenda and data requests.

Design updates
Design Updates

Based on user and stakeholder feedback, we created high-fidelity mockups and refined the navigation categories.

Final Design - Home Page Before and After
Old home page
Old Home Page
New home page
New Home Page
Final Concept

After presenting the high-fidelity prototypes to leadership, the designs were approved and received positive feedback. These designs were used to update the site's navigation, home page, and research report page.