Matt Houdyk | UX Designer | Melbourne, Victoria | 0401 260 685
Overview
Greater Western Water, a newly formed organisation from the merger of City West Water and Western Water, needed to unify three legacy websites.
I led the UX research and design activities to bring these websites together, ensuring a seamless user experience across the board.
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Website redevelopment
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Website information architecture
Identifying the problem
Initially, the organisation sought external advice for a recommended website information architecture. As I became involved in the project as the Senior User Experience Designer, I sensed that while it would suit three primary user types, it might create a poor navigation experience for a fourth user type.
To confirm my hunch, I conducted a tree testing exercise with 80 customers on the recommended information architecture. The results were clear:
- Residential customers, plumbers, and land developers navigated the site with ease.
- Business customers, however, faced significant difficulties, with fail rates ranging from 48% to 96% on certain tasks.
Further Research and Development
I proceeded with a detailed competitor analysis and multiple card sorting activities.
After multiple iterations, I developed an alternative information architecture.
Another round of tree testing with 80 customers showed that:
- The alternative information architecture significantly improved the navigation experience for business customers.
- There was no negative impact on the experience for the other user types.
The outcome
I presented both the external agency’s recommendation and my alternative information architecture to the management team.
Using comprehensive data and user insights, I told a story of the work undertaken and made a compelling case for adopting the alternative structure.
The management team strongly supported the research and rationale, leading to the adoption of the alternative information architecture for the future website.