Good content Design Sprints
RBKC wanted their service teams to learn how to apply good content design to a set of priority journeys using lean UX methodologies.
Engaged, effective and efficient teams working Agile
Skills and responsibilities devolved to services
Uplift in resident satisfaction score from 2/5 to 4.5/5
RBKC needs their web channel to be a best in class customer experience that enables the service teams to deliver their services effectively to customers who choose to engage with the council online.
The front-end delivery remains a poor user experience and not user friendly and so causes friction between the council and its customers. It currently scores a satisfaction score of 1.8 out of 5 and is leading to unnecessary contact via other channels.
We ran series of 6 design sprints with the aim of teaching teams how to:
Use data
Build use cases
Reconstruct sitemaps to reduce steps and content volume
Improved signposting and reorganise content to create better journeys
Write better copy using natural language, no jargon and improve SEO and readability
Improve component design and page layout to improve flow, consistency, accessibility and learnability and a better user experience across the site
Work Agile
Improve the customer satisfaction score.
Sprint 1: Food waste
RBKC have a food waste collection service that they wanted to roll out to more of the borough and encourage more eligible residents to register for the service.
The design sprint meant we:
Reduced content by 60%
Reduced clicks from 8 to 2
Reduced pages from 4 to 1
Increased resident satisfaction score from 3/5 to 5/5.
“It’s now so much easier to use and a lot quicker to get to information”
Sprint 2: Noise complaint
RBKC wanted to encourage residents that needed to alert the council of a noise or nuisance complaint to channel shift away from telephone to an online form.
The design sprint meant we:
Reduced content by 80%
Reduced clicks from 10 to 2
Reduced pages from 18 to 1
Increased resident satisfaction score from 2/5 to 4.5/5.
“Better content layout now. I like left hand navigation module to help you know what information is on page so you can get to what you want to see quicker.”
Sprint 3: Register for council tax
RBKC wanted to make it simpler for residents to alert the council of a change of circumstance e.g. the intention to move in or out of the borough.
The design sprint meant we:
Reduced content by 50%
Reduced clicks from 5 to 2
Reduced pages from 10 to 1
Increased resident satisfaction score from 3/5 to 5/5.
“Now much easier to browse to content and find information on the page.”
Sprint 4: Planning applications
RBKC wanted to make it simpler for residents to understand the process for making a planning application.
The design sprint meant we:
Reduced content by 60%
Reduced clicks from 16 to 11
Reduced pages from 8 to 7
Increased resident satisfaction score from 2/5 to 5/5.
“Understanding the process ‘step by step’ is now much clearer and the information presented in a better order, format and structure.”
Sprint 5: Suspend a parking bay
RBKC wanted to make it easier for residents or contractors to understand how to suspend a parking bay.
The design sprint meant we:
Reduced content by 50%
Reduced clicks from 10 to 9
Reduced pages from 10 to 9
Increased resident satisfaction score from 2/5 to 4/5.
“The new design makes the information much clearer.”
Outcomes
The new content designs help ensure frictionless paths to understanding, applying for and managing services, minimising failed and aborted visits and improving operational efficiency and also to raise the Council’s brand perception and created:
A redesigned website sitemap offering an improved structure and organisation for web content
Assets supporting the construction of a new navigation structure that simplifies user access to information
A set of guidelines to allow the continued development of content by teams to work though the rest of their priority journeys for each service.
New landing page
New ‘in this guide’ template
New ‘on this page’ template
Design style refresh
As part of the project we were also asked to look at how developing a fresh and visually engaging online design style would help to enhance the website's overall aesthetics, user appeal, content design and accessibility.
“It’s now easier on the eye. The information presentation is clearer and appears much more logical. It’s easy to see what the service is, if i’m eligible, any costs and and how I sign up. ”