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About half of the web design projects we take on are redesigns. Of those, most clients have elements from their old sites that they would like to carry over or maintain in the design of a new website.
When the site is heavily trafficked, particularly by repeat visitors, too drastic of a change can cause a bit of a backlash. Nothing's worse than a redesigned website that confuses or otherwise frustrates regular website visitors. These two things make the path to a successfully revamped website a tricky one to walk.
Our latest project, a full redesign of the Philadelphia City Controller's website, presented us with this challenge. As with any government-oriented site, web standards and accessibility play a key part. Unlike the static existence of many government websites, the Office of the Controller thrives on web-based communication such as web video, PDF press releases, and daily content updates.
While maintaining much of the structure of the old site, it was our job to improve the site's accessibility and enhance features that regular site visitors were using most. An analysis of visitor behavior informed us of what decisions to make about information architecture -- particularly with regard to front page content placement.
We made a key change, for instance, in pulling biographical information about Philadelphia City Controller Alan Butkovitz from sub-pages in the old site to the front page of the new site. We also retooled the layout to present important content and functionality higher up on a user's computer screen (believe it or not, many users never scroll down). The shift to exclusively horizontal, drop-down navigation allowed for the addition of a third column for content.
These types of considerations make website redesign as lengthy and detailed of a process as developing a site from scratch. But, unlike a new site, there's a certain satisfaction in improving on what was there before (see for yourself).
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