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The
American Gas Association,
a membership organization
representing natural gas utilities
and other entities in the
energy industry, underwent
a Web site redesign and content
management implementation.
In this
project, Olkin Communications
Consulting provided the
following services:
- usability
analysis of the current
site
- audience
analysis
- analysis
of departmental and organizational
communications needs as
they relate to the AGA
Web site
- user
experience concept and
content strategy
- information
architecture
The Challenge
The original
AGA Web site had some
shortcomings that needed
to be addressed:
- The
site's main navigation
categories reflected the
departmental structure
of AGA, not how site users
think about and use AGA
information.
- The
homepage lacked a tagline
and a welcome and was
too crowded.
- The
homepage design was not
flexible enough to promote
different kinds of content
within the site when communications
and marketing priorities
changed.
- The
"landing pages"
for main content areas
of the site lacked an
introduction and a clear
guide to content in that
section.
- The
site lacked a consistent
"voice."
- The
site was content rich,
but the content was written
from an "insider"
perspective that was too
technical for many of
the site's users.
Outcomes
The new
AGA Web site has a topic-based,
user-focused taxonomy. Cross-linking
and drill-down links take
users to the most important
content quickly. Click to
see the wireframe
of the new site. The
wireframe shows the new
main navigation categories
in a mock up of the homepage,
before a visual design was
developed.
Our user
experience concept brief
guided the graphic designer
in producing a design that
achieves the desired perceptions
of the new site and supports
AGA's organizational branding.
The brief will also help
the Web site manager and
content authors present
content in a manner that
supports the desired user
experience.
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