Government Redesign
A redesign for travel.gov to create more traffic & easier understanding for those seeking travel needs.
Background
My Role
UX Researcher
UX Designer
Beginning Stages
For this project, I was to redesign a government website into a more efficient, updated experience.
I chose travel.state.gov, as I found this site to be both useful & interesting for avid travel-goers like myself.
Research
Understanding The User Path
To create a clear path of how the user would potentially interact with this site, I mapped out a user flow that would involve a first-time user obtaining a passport as the main function that the site serves.
This allowed for clarity on what pages would need most attention at first in the redesign process.
Initial Assessment
I began testing the website’s strengths & weaknesses as a user to better acess where this website could be improved.
A few things that I immediately noticed in the website structure were misaligned text/icons, hard to read formatting, & confusing arrangement of information, as seen in the shown annotations.
Continuing to the passport page, the next part of the user flow, I observed a few changes that could be made here as well, such as uncentered icons, resizing of text, & use of inconsistent language.
I also found the color palette to be underwhelming & lacking in inspiration. I thought that the website could capture the excitement of going new places in a much different way for a first time user, prompting them to return to the site in the future.
Card Sorting
Another issue that seemed to effect the flow of the website was its overwhelming information & lack of effiicient structure. In order to create better direction through the site, I rearranged the information heiarchy in a way that felt simpler & easy to digest for the user.
I also had another user rearrange this information as well, giving deeper insight into how the process would best make sense for them.
Redesign Process
Moodboard
To find inspiration for how this website could capture more of the user’s attention, I created a moodboard that I felt expressed the wonder of traveling. The color scheme felt both awe inspiring and vibrant, much like the feelings a first-time traveler might experience when being immersed in a new adventure.
Style Guide
I then created a style guide containing a new logo, components, buttons, fonts & color schemes that I felt could create a striking contrast for the user. While the original theme centered around standard patriotic colors of red, white and blue, this one focused on more earthy, pastel landscapes.
Implementing New Ideas
Wireframes
I formatted wireframes for both a traditional website redesign, as well as a mobile application.
I had two homepage layouts in mind, deciding on version A, with brighter contrast in colors & display of the passport, a primary focus of this site.
Included below are some of the mobile application wireframes.
Final Prototype
The final part of the redesign process included prototyping both the original website redesign, as well as the mobile application.
Lessons Learned
This project taught me how to work between different existing parameters as a designer.
For example, the greater challenge at hand was having to create a design that was both efficient & accurate to it’s main function, while also finding a way to create more user engagement & enjoyable process as the user moved throughout the site.
Working between the structure of an informative site allowed for me to blend both practicality & enthusiasm in my design choices, showing that you do not have to pick only one or the other! In fact, an engaging website will aspire to be both!