|
The City of Bloomington includes more than 20 departments and programs
and employs more than 500 people. City staff are dedicated to providing
great service to citizens.
Bloomington’s old site was built by hand, with each department
responsible for publishing individual pages of content. Since it
had no overall design or navigation strategy, the site was notoriously
difficult to use. Bloomington is a tech-savvy community, and the
John Fernandez administration was eager to build an infrastructure
that would easily deliver online information and services.
See
and learn more
Brand: We redesigned the site to express Bloomington’s
progressive culture while meeting federal accessibility guidelines.
The consistent, clear design helps visitors find what they need
fast, while the professional, streamlined interface reflects the
high standards of City staff.
Site architecture: To discover visitors’
needs, we conducted focus groups, extensive research, and strategy
sessions. We then reorganized the massive site content to reflect
how visitors looked for information instead of how departments were
organized. We developed five different types of navigation so all
visitors could find information in a way that made sense to them.
Each tier of navigation is clearly delineated visually so the options
don’t overwhelm, and we developed navigation wording that’s
easy to understand.
Content: Bloomington City staff are exceptional
at posting regular, timely information. We suggested adding some
additional sitewide content, such as a page for first-time visitors.
We worked with the developer of the content management system to
ensure smooth integration between the front end and back end of
the site.
Response to the redesign was overwhelmingly positive, even generating
letters to the editor of the local paper. Citizens now have easy
access to dynamically updated information about every aspect of
local government. And best of all, other cities now look to Bloomington’s
site as a model of how good an e-government site can be.
View
the live site
Cairril not only has a lot of talent,
she has business savvy. There’s always logic behind what she
does, and you can be sure that what you’re getting is high
quality.
When we hired Cairril to redesign the website for the city of Bloomington,
we wanted something sophisticated that would present Bloomington
as a forward-looking city. Cairril’s design both achieved
that goal and was easy for the average visitor to use. Other cities
have said, “We need a site that looks like Bloomington’s.”
The site has strengthened Bloomington’s image as the innovative
city in Indiana, the city that’s ahead of the curve.
Gregory Volan, Chief Information Officer, City of Bloomington
|
