Aberdeenshire Council
The challenge
Aberdeenshire Council were aware that they had usability problems but were unsure how to address them. In addition, they were concerned about some issues related to the structure of the information on their council website, and User Vision were approached to provide a proposal to address these issues. User Vision were referred to Aberdeenshire Council by Aberdeen City Council.
Our approach
User Vision carried out both usability and information architecture (IA) testing on the live Aberdeenshire Council website with citizens of Aberdeenshire to identify usability and IA issues before starting the redevelopment project in September 2004. The results were delivered in report and presentation format.
The outcome
The presentation was particularly well received and was seen as a major project benefit, resulting in the wide exposure of Council Services to the issue of usability. The great majority of recommendations (estimated as 75%) are planned for implementation in the site redevelopment with the remainder not being technically possible, or being subject to the constraints of the different departments and services. Some changes were quickly implemented on the site, with the recommended redesign of the site A-Z resulting in a doubling of the number of site hits coming through this route. Aberdeenshire Council have also recommended User Vision to other Scottish Local Authorities.
User Vision were engaged to provide usability consultancy and services throughout the 2004/2005 redevelopment project.
From first meeting to final presentation the approach was impressive and professional. Very good at interpreting our requirements at the same time as introducing new issues to our team.The redesign has transformed the usability and accessibility of the website. Many favourable comments have been received from our users and there have been more than 1 million visits to the site since the relaunch. The work of User Vision was integral to this success both in terms of guiding the work of the team during the development phases and in demonstrating that targets have been met. What made their input so valuable was an ability to understand our requirements and give valuable and practical recommendations for improvements.
Internet Project Leader – Aberdeenshire Council