creative Professional
CASE STUDY
Redesign a government website
This project was done for educational purposes only and does not reflect any real conversations between the New Mexico Department of Workforce Solutions and the UX project team listed below.
Project Overview
Project Team
Summary
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Anna Lister, Project Manager & UX/UI Designer
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Yerayen Rodriguez, UX/UI Designer
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Breanna Walton, UX/UI Designer
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Delissa Rodriguez, UX/UI Designer
Duration
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5 weeks
Programs Used
The purpose of this project was to help the New Mexico Department of Workforce Solutions, a state unemployment website, redesign website.
Problem
Solution
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Miro
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Figma
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Illustrator
The New Mexico Department of Workforce Solutions needs to reduce the call volume of questions about information already listed on their website in order to facilitate a competitive workforce
After conducting a website content audit and analyzing the information architecture, we updated the branding, redesigned the website, and created a new sitemap for desktop and mobile ​
Analysis of Existing Website
Content Analysis
Color & Contrast
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Color contrast is used heavily to emphasize content blocks and login buttons at top of page.
Scale
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Several large images are placed strategically next to written content.
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Top header above search bar uses a very large font and is significantly larger than the other fonts.
Grouping
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The main grouping of content is related to the various types of audiences visiting the website.
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2 equally weighted groupings are in the middle of the page, one for “Wage and Hour” information, and the other for “Unemployment.”
Information Architecture Evaluation
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It appears that grouping information by audience (Job Seekers, Workers, Businesses, Researchers) is a recurring pattern.
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There was also a heavy emphasis on referring users to other resources
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Duplicates of links were found in almost every section of the website
Navigation Evaluation
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The utility bar contains important icons related to logging into the unemployment insurance system and selecting the site language. These elements are crucial because a high number of visitors likely use both items due to their diverse audience base.
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The buttons “Find a Job” and “Apprenticeship” seemed to compete too much with the “UI System Login” button.
The following are a set of recommendations we made based on web best practices and the analysis of existing website content.
Recommendations
Recommended Changes to the Homepage
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Move the search bar into the navigation bar.
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Move information housed in the two image sliders into a dedicated grouping for announcements and events; remove the bottom slider.
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Move the grouping with information for various audiences closer to the top, remove duplicate information.
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Make the design more consistent among the grouped content sections- color and images used.
New Sitemaps
Main Navigation
Footer Navigation
Prototyping
Mid-Fidelity Desktop
Mid-Fidelity Mobile
High Fidelity Desktop
High Fidelity Mobile
User Testing
Testing Technique
Results
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5 users total tested mobile version
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Survey
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Remote Moderated Usability Test
Tasks Performed
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As a job seeker, begin your job search
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Start an advanced search for a UX designer job with the salary filter set to $60,000 - $80,000.
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After search results populate, assume you have bookmarked several jobs. Navigate to the bookmarked jobs section.
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Overall task completion time
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80% of users completed the task in under 30 seconds
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20% of users completed the task in 45+ seconds
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Task success rate​
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100% of users completed all 3 tasks​
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Overall satisfaction with experience ​
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60% of users rated overall satisfaction at 4/5 = success​
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20% of users rated overall satisfaction at 3/5 = partial success
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20% of users rated overall satisfaction at 1/5 = failure
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Insights from User Testing
Metrics for Success
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Overall task completion time​
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15-30 seconds = success​
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30-45 seconds = partial success
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45+ seconds = failure
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Task success rate
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3 tasks completed = success​
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2 tasks completed = partial success
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0-1 tasks completed = failure
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Overall satisfaction with experience on scale of 1 to 5:
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4 or higher = success
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3 = partial success
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2 or below = failure
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Users noted it was difficult to find the bookmarked section because the icon was not where they expected or was too small
- Some users complained the red icons and buttons were distracting during testing
- Users said they wanted to see other details listed in the job search results screen besides the beginning of the job description. Some suggested things like salary range, employee satisfaction, and and apply now quick link
Recommendations for Future Iterations
Icon + Text
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Whenever possible, add text next to icons for improved accessibility experience
Review Colors
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Check the colors for accessibility ratings again; consider changing red icons and buttons to a different color
Job Search Card
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Remove description from job search results card and add with user suggestions noted above