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BELLEVUE PARKS AND COMMUNITY SERVICES

Improving the Parks & Community Services website so that users have an easier time finding information.

Status: Inprocess
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Problem

Bellevue Parks & Community Services boasts a wealth of resources – 90 parks, nearly 100 trails, and over 2,800 acres of green space – but their website, with over 400 pages, is cluttered and outdated.

 

The team regularly hears from customers that finding information is challenging with an average bounce rate of 60%. The department wanted to explore how data can be structured and displayed so that it is more user-friendly, intuitive, and visually appealing while meeting our accessibility standards

PAIN POINT 1

Outdated

Last updated in 2017, the website appeared outdated, inconsistent with modern design trends, and visually unattractive to users.

PAIN POINT 2

Confusing Navigation

Unintuitive grouping of information with a confusing mix of navigation options: top menus, sidebars, breadcrumbs, and a hamburger menu all crammed together. 

PAIN POINT 3

Cluttered and text heavy

Walls of text and a cluttered layout made it incredibly difficult for visitors to find the information they needed.

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Before

After

Project Goals

Role & Team

Improve the Parks & Community Services website so that users have an easier time finding information.

  1. Develop an information architecture which aligns with users’ expectations.

  2. Provide design recommendations for other aspects of the website (navigation, layout, etc.) which contribute to users’ difficulty navigating the content. 

As the lead product designer I spearheaded all the collaborative efforts with the project manager to redesign the information architecture, navigation system, and web pages.

 

Me : Product Designer and Researcher

UX researcher : Jeff Pabst
Project Manager : Mariam Sarwary

Accessibility Consultant : Kunal Mehta

 

Project Toolkit

User Experience Research

  • Card sort study: Sorting exercise with 53 participants to inform a user-centered information architecture (IA).

  • Tree test:  Results from 47 participants informed updates to the IA.

  • Usability study: 10 participants, including two with cognitive and/or visual disabilities.

  • Pre-launch usability study: 5 participants, including one with visual disabilities.

IA and website redesign

  • Information architecture & Navigation Redesign

  • User flows

  • Wireframe prototype

  • Design system and visual style guide

IA and website redesign

  • Information architecture 

  • Navigation Redesign

  • User flows

  • Wireframe prototype

  • Design system and visual style guide

Design Challenge

How might we design an interactive website that engages visitors and significantly reduces the bounce rate, by showcasing Bellevue's impressive park system in a user-friendly way?

Target Users

The Bellevue Parks & Community Services website serves diverse users, including local residents, visitors, community organizations, event planners, businesses, and more.

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New Users

People who are new to the city and are seeking information related to parks and services.

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Local Resident

Local Residents of Bellevue who are the regular visitors of the website.

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Parents

Parents interested in registering their children for summer camps or other programs.

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Sports Enthusist

People looking to participate in a specific sport, or researching various athletic facilities.

Problems with Information Architecture

We identified key challenges in the existing information architecture through a combination of 10 usability studies, in-depth heuristic evaluations, and user testing methods like card sorting and tree testing. Please find the old information architecture here

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OLD IA

Overall Problems

PAIN POINT 1

Org chart focus

Current IA mimic government departments structure, but users don't navigate by departments. 

They need an IA that prioritizes easy access to information.

PAIN POINT 2

Information overload

Current IA is a massive data repository with IA running 8 levels deep. This can overwhelm users with too many choices, making it hard to navigate.

PAIN POINT 3

Weak search functionality

Overloaded with information and hampered by weak infrastructure, the website's search function struggles to deliver relevant results

Problems in detail

01

Limited filtering options and broken IA

While the website offers predefined filters for parks, users can't delve deeper. Imagine a park with a dog park, a playground, and athletic fields. The current system might force you to choose just one amenity, missing out on the park's full potential.

The website frequently experienced slow loading times, resulting in a subpar user experience.

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Problems in detail

Inability to compare 2 different parks

Jump between differnt external sites within the website

Side navigation jumps without warnings

Conflict between side navigation and liks within pages

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