Web Site Redesign

DC Water is a public utility providing water service and wastewater collection and treatment within a service area of approximately 725 square miles, including the District of Columbia, Montgomery and Prince George's counties in Maryland, and Fairfax and Loudoun counties in Virginia.

The Challenge
DC Water (then D.C. Water and Sewer Authority) had an antiquated site with a structure based on the organization's departmental structure rather than the needs of customers. The homepage was crowded and hard to scan for information. The site lacked a usable structure and navigation. Pages were named inconsistently and not laid out in a way that made them easy to read.

Our Work
We established the user-centered design process for the project, did initial discovery work, (including stakeholder interviews and a customer survey), and developed a site strategy. We then developed a new information architecture (site structure), renamed key pages, and developed wireframes that showed how the homepage and section landing pages would present information. Our teaming partner WebFirst designed and programmed the site, and DC Water did the technical implementation.

Outcomes
The the new site, www.dcwater.com, launched in 2008. It is much more usable than the old site and better reflects DC Water's commitment to customer service. The site structure is easy to understand, and the site has breadcrumbs and other navigational clues that tell site visitors where they are and keep them from getting lost. The homepage is orderly and easier to read.

When D.C. Water and Sewer Authority rebranded itself in 2010 as DC Water, it was able to keep its usable new web site and update only minor graphic elements.