Think Tank
Website Redesign Discovery
A public policy think tank website on Drupal 7 needed to migrate to Drupal 9 before Drupal 7's end of life, aiming to strategically redesign for improved user experience.
Details in this case study have been obscured to retain client privacy. Please contact me for detailed work samples.
Challenge
With limited time, budget, and user research excluded, I assumed the roles of sole UXer and content strategist. Leveraging available resources, I crafted user-centric recommendations aligned with the client's business needs.
Define the vision for the new website
Propose high-level features to achieve vision
Define optimal product and scope
Goals
Developed migration/design strategy based on competitor analysis, current site information architecture, and content audit
Conducted stakeholder interviews to understand business practices and future goals
Identified user needs, preferences, and objectives through interviews and Google Analytics analysis
Produced various client artifacts including competitor analysis, personas, content audit, feature matrix, and a findings & recommendations report
Presented research findings and deliverables to clients in weekly meetings
Collaborated with team lead strategist and developer to complete deliverables and provide client recommendations
My Role
Structure: As the sole UX designer on a fully remote team, I collaborated with a lead strategist, developer, and project manager.
Challenge: Given the limited budget, I assumed responsibility for the content audit tasks to avoid the need for hiring an additional content strategist.
Team
Deliverables
Competitor/Comparator Analysis
Personas
Content Audit
Feature Matrix
Findings & Recommendations Report
Methods
Heuristic Evaluation
Stakeholder Interviews
Secondary Research
Tools
Figma
MURAL
Google doc/sheets/slides
Screaming Frog
Zoom
Slack
Discovery Process
Below, I explain the goals and insights from each step in the process of discovery for this website redesign.
Research
Heuristic Evaluation
Because user research wasn't part of the discovery engagement's statement of work, I initiated the process with a heuristic evaluation. This solo activity allowed me to identify areas for improvement independently, without relying on user input.
Goal
The goal was to assess the current site's design, information architecture, and usability by applying a set of heuristics.
Insights
Identified a need for significant information architecture improvements to better optimize wayfinding and navigability due to multiple organizational systems.
Conducted a walkthrough to empathize with user interactions, given the absence of scoped user research or usability testing.
This is a screenshot of the heuristic evaluation for this site which lists the page, a description, the heuristic violated, the severity on a scale from 1-5, and notes for each violation.
*Details have been obscured to retain client privacy.
*Details have been obscured to retain client privacy.
Competitor Analysis
Research
As the next phase of the discovery process, a competitor/comparator analysis was conducted. This analysis aimed to identify strengths in mobile experience, site search, navigation, data visualization, language options, and brand among other sites in the same domain.
Goal
Analyze competitors/comparators to identify successful practices in the domain.
Insights
Analyzing the competitors/comparators aided in enhancing my understanding of the think tank's field, despite not being a subject matter expert. This process provided insights into the space they occupy and potential user needs.
Image of Competitor/Comparator Analysis
*Details have been obscured to retain client privacy.
Research
Stakeholder Interviews
I facilitated interviews with stakeholders and subject matter experts to grasp the site's goals, future vision, content creation process, and user behaviors.
Goal
Prioritize questions that provide insights into user behavior since direct interaction with actual users of the site wasn't possible.
Insights
Stakeholders provided conflicting information regarding user behavior on the site, posing challenges for developing accurate personas and making IA recommendations.
Interviews revealed internal politics that would impact future presentation strategies, emphasizing the need for persuasive power.
*Details have been obscured to retain client privacy.
Deliverable
Personas
Using the information from the stakeholder interviews and two user interviews, I developed the user personas.
Goal
Develop personas representing various user types to inform the creation of an optimal product aligned with user needs.
Insights
The process of creating personas solely based on assumptive content was deemed less than ideal, especially given conflicting stakeholder statements about user behavior on the site.
Cross-analysis with analytics data was conducted to determine the relevance of these statements in persona formation.
*The personas have not been included in this case study to retain client privacy. Please contact me to see detailed work samples.
This is an image of the persona synthesis in MURAL. I used the raw data to locate each persona’s goals, wants, needs, and fears.
Deliverable
Content Audit
Due to budgetary constraints, we did not have a designated content expert on our team, so I was tasked with completing the content audit.
Goal
Conduct a content audit by utilizing a Screaming Frog crawl to inventory the site, then formulate a strategy for content migration to the new site based on insights derived from the audit.
Insights
Conducting content audits typically falls outside my UX duties, presenting a new task
Sought guidance from a senior content strategist for advice and examples to understand the expected deliverable
Grateful for the experience as it highlighted the intersection of content and UX, enabling leveraging of the audit for UX recommendations
Audit results indicated a significant amount of content for migration, prompting recommendations on what to include/exclude in the new site through a report and presentation
*The full content audit document has not been included in this case study to retain client privacy. Please contact me for detailed work samples.
Findings & Recommendations Report and Feature Matrix
Deliverable
Based on the research findings and deliverables, I compiled a report outlining recommended changes for the new site. These changes aimed to align the site with the stakeholders' vision and create an optimal product.
Goals
Present findings & recommendations report to clients to propose a statement of work based on the proposed feature matrix.
Collaboratively develop the feature matrix with the lead strategist and developer.
Identify and prioritize features that enhance site experience, focusing on those that provide the most value, culminating in an MVP recommendation.
Insights
Due to budget constraints, proposing features for the new site based on findings required creativity. Two proposals were created: an MVP version, involving a migration from Drupal 7 to Drupal 9 without enhancements, and a second version representing their optimal product.
Conclusion
Successes & Opportunities
This project underscores the importance of including user research, especially in discovery work involving UX. The inability to answer questions about user navigation highlighted the limitations of assumptions based solely on research deliverables.
Successes
Leveraged content audit and analytics report to support UX findings & recommendations, aiding in persuading clients against migrating unused content
Emphasized the importance of collaboration, particularly with developers, in understanding feature prioritization and effort, ensuring alignment with optimal user experience goals
Opportunities
Difficulty in creating personas due to lack of research inputs indicates a need for improved methods or resources.
Consideration of an empathy mapping workshop with stakeholders retrospectively, as it could have facilitated alignment on user needs in a collaborative setting.