About City of Swan
The City of Swan is one of Western Australia’s largest Local Governments (LG), located 20 km NE of Perth.
Being a large LG, there are expectations that the City should have a superior website, serving its 153,000+ population with timely public information and online services.
However, their previous site was failing to meet these expectations.
The challenge
The City of Swan’s website was in need of a digital transformation. Its outdated technology and vast, complex site map were contributing to a poor User Experience (UX), leading members of the community to feel frustrated and underserviced.
At the same time, the site lacked the accessibility infrastructure expected from a large local government website.
The size and complexity of the site meant there was no easy fix for these issues. Instead, a considered and holistic strategic approach would be necessary to ensure the new website provided a superior UX while also meeting user needs and expectations.
The solution
Data analysis
ALYKA undertook a Google Analytics review to assess what existing content was most popular with users.
We also reviewed heatmaps of key pages to see how users interacted with them (i.e. where they clicked and how far they would scroll) and whether there were any opportunities for improvement here.
User research
ALYKA conducted user research to learn how key audience groups (internal users and residents) were interacting with the City and what their needs were.
We adopted a testing methodology that combined qualitative and quantitative approaches, including:
- Surveys
- Focus group sessions
- User testing
We then collated the results and key takeaways in a user-friendly report so the City could understand the implications of the research and the community needs we would be addressing.
Website design
Informed by the results of our user research, ALYKA proposed a custom-built site on Kentico 13 (this is our recommended CMS for local government websites).
To improve online self-service and alleviate the customer support team’s workload, we implemented the following bespoke modules:
- Verge collection module
- Rates calculator module
- E-petition module
Community engagement was another priority for the new website. To help the City better engage with its residents, we implemented the following:
- Events module
- Councillor module
- Alerts module
- Updates module
- Venues and facilities module
We also applied SEO best practices to direct traffic to priority pages and condensed the sitemap to better align with the way key stakeholder groups use the site.
The results
