Client

Kāpiti Coast District Council

Work

Website Navigation Design, Online Branding, UX/UI, Content Visibility

Brief

A good website will grow and expand over time. This can be great for SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) and SEV (Search Engine Visibility). But if done without consideration, growth can make website navigation difficult for viewers. New topics tend to be squeezed in and tacked onto existing navigation menus making them hard to find. This degrades the user experience, pushing out the new content, taking up screen real estate that could be better optimised. KCDC came to Wonderlab with exactly this issue. Their extensive site encompassed multiple requirements from varied audience groups. How could they all find what they needed and still have a great user experience?

A person holds a smartphone displaying a webpage beside a laptop showing the same website, which features a dog running in water and the text "Is your dog registered?" and "2024.
A hand holds a smartphone displaying a blog post titled "What's new - our blog," next to three smartphones showing various blog posts dated February 2024. The background reads "2024 BLOGPOSTS.
Sample of typography showing styles for Display, Heading 1, Heading 2, Heading 3, body text, and pull quote with placeholder text.
A laptop displaying a website with a dog registration page is in front of four website pages featuring various categories such as community services, local governance, and news updates.
A laptop screen displaying the Kapiti Coast District Council website with information on local events, council meetings, and services.
Screenshot of a webpage titled "Homepage Revamp 2024" displaying various sections such as popular links, news articles, and event information, with options for staying informed and blog updates.
A laptop screen displays the Kapiti Coast District Council website homepage with navigation links for Libraries, Animals, Recreation, and Events, alongside a mouse pointer. The background says "2024 Navigation.
Image displaying several pages of a research and report document for 2024, featuring website layouts, data visualization, and informational content, all spread out on a beige surface.
The objectives

A website design evolution and UX that improves navigation and accessibility: Rationalise and organise the existing content and present it in the way that audience wants to find it.

The goal

Revamp the website navigation and home page to meet present and future needs based on new content architecture research and user experience feedback.

The process

We did what we are passionate about—research based design! We looked internally and externally. Internally, we took onboard user feedback and experience about the current website and content architecture the council had conducted. Externally, we wanted to know what other councils’ site did that worked well, and what they did that worked poorly. We wanted to evolve the best practices from around the country to provide a complete solution specifically for KCDC’s audience needs and brand.

The deliverables

Driven by our market research we:

  • rebuilt the slider and curated fresh images
  • added a community notice alert
  • developed a mega menu allowing the whole site architecture to be easily accessible but without being overwhelming
  • improved the hierarchy of the homepage so that the most popular topics were in the most prominent position
  • development of ‘popular links’ navigation that could be updated and curated based on viewer demand
  • improved the mobile experience and designed specifically for mobile in mind
  • developed news feed themes so that viewers were presented with similar content to improvement engagement
  • integration of te Reo into menus
  • updated the typeface to a friendlier, more mobile ledgible option.
Outcome

Multiple website navigation design improvements that were all user experience driven.

Easy to find

The content architecture was extrapolated across a design system to make visual navigation clear and straight forward, greatly simplifying the users experience.

Easy to engage

The different navigation options connected with viewers on their terms. Multiple entry points for information and well structured content allowed for easy access suitable for all audiences.

Easy to stay

The development of a themed newsfeed meant site users could quickly find multiple related articles. Viewer engagement times improved as their experience improved.

“

I have had the pleasure of working with Wonderlab for the past five years as part of the Kāpiti Coast District Council, and I cannot emphasize enough their exceptional design expertise. Throughout our collaboration, they have consistently demonstrated a deep understanding of our project goals and a commitment to delivering a quality product.
One of the standout qualities of Wonderlab is its remarkable ability to integrate our brand identity into its designs seamlessly. They take the time to grasp the essence of our brand, ensuring that every design element aligns perfectly with our vision and message.
Their commitment to user experience and interface design is awe-inspiring. Wonderlab consistently crafts interfaces that are visually appealing and highly functional. Their user-centric approach ensures that our audience experiences a smooth and intuitive journey when interacting with our digital platforms.

Kyla HuffTeam Leader Content and Channels, Kāpiti Coast District Council