Hawaii State Department of Education
UX Designer & Information Architect
The Hawaii State Department of Education needed a new website that made it easy for parents, teachers and DOE staff to communicate. My team and I conducted a comprehensive review of all DOE web properties, designed a new site architecture, and built tools that helped the public stay informed.
Before & After
The original website was a mix of separate, independently managed, domains as well as a public “Dropbox” for DOE documentation. We reviewed thousands of pages and identified redundancies across HIDOE's network of web properties.
Prior to defining a new site architecture, my team and I sketched user flows. These customer journeys helped us explore and identify essential site features.
Over several visits to Honolulu, we interviewed dozens of Hawaiian parents, teachers, and administrators. From their comments, we were able to create personas that informed website content and functional requirements.
After validating a new sitemap, taxonomy, and feature set against our personas, I began the process of prototyping the new website. Over the course of several months, I led members of the DOE through the working prototype and incorporated their feedback in the final design.
Challenges:
Originally, the HIDOE website lacked a coherent information architecture and central domain. I was confronted with an overgrown website with no clear point of entry. With the help of mentor, a trained and educated information architect, I rebuilt HIDOE's website by implementing a persona-driven sitemap and taxonomy.
Insights:
Over the courses of the HIDOE project, it became clear that government organizations make decisions differently than the for-profit corporations I was accustomed to working with. Grants, funding and the nature of public service can slow down the design process. As time went on, I learned how to speak to the realities that drive government bureaucracy and pitch ideas with confidence.