Austin Smart City Alliance
Ask
In three weeks, rebrand and redesign Austin CityUP into Austin Smart City Alliance. Fulfill their need to engage and educate the public on Smart City initiatives, as well as increase membership numbers.
Role
User Experience Designer
Information Architecture Lead
Client Liaison
Austin CityUP
Austin Smart City Alliance
Research
The Client and Their Goals
Austin CityUP represents a consortium comprising companies and individuals unified in propelling Austin forward by implementing smart city techniques. Central to their objectives are the following imperatives:
Rebrand and Redesign
A pivotal need for Austin CityUP involves a comprehensive rebranding and redesign effort, aiming to enhance engagement and elevate awareness, ensuring a more impactful presence in the community.
Membership Growth
Elevate membership levels to draw in a more extensive and diverse group of participants. This not only contributes to the consortium's strength but also amplifies its influence and reach.
Revenue Enhancement
Concurrently, the focus extends to improving revenue streams, a critical facet in sustaining and advancing Austin CityUP's mission. By optimizing financial avenues, the consortium can better support its initiatives and ensure continued progress.
Network Expansion
Austin CityUP seeks to build a larger and more interconnected community to foster collaboration, knowledge-sharing, and collective efforts toward advancing Austin as a smart city.
Defining Users and Creating Personas
Our research initiative commenced with defining our user base, aiming to discern their needs in alignment with the outcomes our client required. Our users encompass two segments:
The General Public
This category includes residents of Austin who can actively participate in Austin CityUP, expressing an interest in contributing to the smart city initiative, and those eager to attend related events.
Members
Comprising individuals and companies, both large and small, who opt to pay a fee for consortium enrollment. Membership in the consortium not only reflects a commitment to the cause but also grants access to a range of substantial benefits.
Our personas were created by interviewing 4 Austin residents, 2 board members, and 2 consortium members.
Content Auditing
To bolster our research efforts, I conducted a comprehensive content audit using the Design and Brand Scale below. This involved analyzing each page's content and evaluating its performance to ascertain its effectiveness. The findings revealed that the website’s current state was not aligning with its intended purpose, and showed us where we needed to focus our efforts.
Design and Brand Scale
0 (worst) - 4 (best)
-
0 The general flow of page elements is incoherent.
1 The visual line of elements is clunky.
2 The page starts with a clear header image but the information is less coherent as you move down the page.
3 The page flows well; no one is likely to be confused by its layout.
4 The page flows well; something about it contributes to its content being better understood. -
0 No or too many CTAs, next steps, or related links.
1 Poor CTA or few related links present in the content.
2 Acceptable CTA. There is a next step for the user to take.
3 Main CTA fits the content of the page. There is some cross-linking, perhaps not with relevant anchor text.
4 CTA is enticing. Links are highly relevant. -
0 The entire page is not consistent with brand, colors, or fonts.
1 Some elements of the page are off-brand.
2 Colors and fonts are OK. Imagery is not a representation of our brand.
3 The page is a moderate representation of our brand.
4 The page is the embodiment of our brand. -
0 It’s completely unclear what the most important element of this page is.
1 An unimportant element on the page is distracting from the most important element.
2 The most important element is clear, however, distractions or weak visuals diminish its impact.
3 The page features a prominent hero image, video, or bold quote.
4 A beautiful hero image, video, or quote captures the eye immediately. -
0 The page looks cluttered or messy.
1 The layout is not clean and dilutes the overall message of the page.
2 The layout is okay but could use some help.
3 Content is easy to scan, has good use of text styles, and several headlines.
4 This page is laid out intuitively. Content is easy to consume and images or videos are placed with a good user flow.
Funnel Definitions for Content Audit
What is the outcome at each step of the funnel, for each user group?
| Awareness | Consideration | Conversion | Evangelism | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Public | I am aware that this company exists, and I know what a smart city is. | I have learned something from the resource material on this site. I want to get involved. | I have subscribed to the email newsletter. | I have shared thought leadership material from this site. |
| Member | I am aware that this company exists and offers a membership service. | I have reviewed a project on this site. I want to get involved. | I have filled out an application form. | I have made a public testimonial. |
Results
Comparative Analysis
In our client interview, we discovered four different organizations that successfully engaged their communities in smart city initiatives. These companies not only showcased successful strategies but also served as a source of inspiration for our client.
The visual design and layout of the home page made it difficult for users to understand what Austin CityUP offered, how they’ve impacted the community, and how to get involved
Membership Application Form
| Smart Columbus | DesignOutreach | WEHOSmartCity | AustinCityUP | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Member Login | ⏺ | |||
| Initiatives | ⏺ | ⏺ | ⏺ | |
| Newsletter | ⏺ | ⏺ | ⏺ | ⏺ |
| Current Events | ⏺ | ⏺ | ⏺ |
User Testing
To advance our research, we tested the current Austin CityUP site with nine users. Our main goal was to identify navigation issues and understand the initial impression of Austin CityUP as an organization. We identified four major improvement points. Results below.
Home Page
When led to the application form, the user found it was excessively long
The form used confusing industry jargon most users would not be familiar with
Some required fields were inapplicable to certain users
Main Navigation
Confusing and excessive navigation options led to decision fatigue and decreased engagement.
Membership Plans
Plan options did not highlight the benefits received
Too much reading on the user’s part left them uninterested and unsure of what option to pick
Associate and Individual Memberships had no discernible differences
Develop
Rebuilding with Information Architecture
To start the process of rebuilding it was important to understand the structure of the current site by building a sitemap. This would allow us to use Information Architecture to reorganize or eliminate the confusing elements.
The sitemap revealed many dead-ends, repetitive links, and endless cycles with no goal attained.
Refining Site Navigation
47 to 15
The original site navigation gave the user 47 options after landing on the home page. By refining the menu to create a simplified and intuitive experience, navigation was reduced to 15 options.
Projects Navigation Hierarchy
Remove the dropdown menu and create a landing page
Create categories for projects
Use visual design to guide the user through the page
Improving the Application Experience
By using an infographic and improving copy, potential members found it easier to choose a membership level and head to the application form.
Projects Page
Text hierarchy, visual design, and impactful copywriting were used to improve the individual project pages
Placing the “Find Affordable Housing” action item at the top of the page led users to view the actual project immediately
Placing the problem statement in bold followed by a simple solution statement made it easier and faster for users to understand the project
Increasing Attendance
The original events page required you to scroll to find links to attend events
Events were not categorized
The links were broken and/or inaccurate
No text hierarchy made it difficult for the user to know what to click to complete event registration
Dropdown options removed from Events top navigation to prevent user from going to the wrong place
Text Hierarchy used for individual events that lead to an action item “Register Here”
Simplified event information for user to quickly digest what to expect
Interaction Design allows for users to make mistakes, button and image both lead to registration
Providing a Future for the Client
Less is More
Through testing and research, it became clear that our audience wanted important information and they wanted it quickly
Structure Your Pages for Impact
Using impact statements, numbers, and visual cues will quickly inform users what Austin Smart City Alliance does, and how they can get involved
Rebranding Tone
Creating a conversational tone invites users to be curious and feel connected to your mission from the start