Requirements

Since the Collaborative is an effort by the Children's Bureau which is within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Service, we have to follow certain government standards for the redesign of the Collaborative's site:

• U.S. Web Design System, an open-source library for government websites

• 21st Century Integrated Digital Experience Act (IDEA), which outlines eight specific requirements that public sector organizations have a legal duty to meet

• Section 508 Accessibility Requirements

Additionally, the main site structure has to stay the same. This means the three centers will stay as the main navigation items and the content will stay within that organizational structure.

Design approach

To make the site more user-friendly, we wanted to make sure it serves the user's needs while complying with the government requirements and standards. Through stakeholder interviews, we identified three core needs of the users, mapped out each user journey, and made design updates accordingly. Additionally, we implemented the required design standards, improved the layout, and upgraded the overall style of the site.

What we changed

1a. Featured services on home pages and topical level pages across the entire site so that they can be easily found; the service widget includes services from all three Centers to make it convenient for users to cross-reference.

1b. To get to the Peer Groups page, users just need to click on "Peer Groups" from Featured Services or find it under the About page of Center for State. We also added a "Request Membership" CTA button and changed the layout of the Peer Groups page. This makes it easier for users to navigate the page and take action.

Why we changed it

We believe users shouldn't need to understand or remember the organization and content structure of the Collaborative to find what they need. Previously, users would need to find the text links buried in paragraphs of texts and know that Peer Group is a Constituency Service that's mentioned on the About page of the Center for State to be able to find the Peer Groups page. Similar to other Services, they're buried deep in the site. While we couldn't reinvent the IA due to limitations, we wanted to make sure users can see and access the services easily. That's why we highlighted the core services on relevant pages and simplified the content structure by consolidating related pages.

What we changed

2a. We added filtering and sorting to the individual Topic pages. If there’s content related to the topic, it will display at the bottom of the page as well.

Why we changed it

Users shouldn't need to dig for information. We wanted to make it fast and easy to find what they need. Plus, consolidating resources in one Resource library eliminates the duplicative content each of the Center is developing.

What we changed

We added Learning Experiences to the Center for Courts landing page and to all the relevant topic pages.

Why we changed it

While CAPLearn was part of the top navigation, it was isolated from the rest of the content which reduced the discoverability of the Learning Experiences. That's why we had to integrate and highlight content so that users can find all the relevant information around the same topic on one page.

The Result

The redesigned Child Welfare Capacity Building Collaborative Site was launched on time and within budget even though we started behind schedule. The new design was also awarded the honor of the Platinum Award in the category of Digital Media – Website – Government and the Golden Award in the category Digital Media – Website – Redesign in the 2021 competition of the MarCom Awards.

Client Testimonials