Background
safefood is an all-island implementation body set up under the British-Irish Agreement with a general remit to promote awareness and knowledge of food safety and nutrition issues on the island of Ireland.
- For some time, the safefood web team had been struggling with the design of their homepage:
- The homepage had a high bounce rate — visitors weren’t exploring the site’s rich, deep content
- The web team found it difficult to showcase all of the different departments, and their work, on the homepage
- The team knew that the site had good content, but knew that it was hard to find
- Content contributors at safefood were updating the site regularly, but the homepage didn’t communicate that
- User feedback suggested people weren’t easily finding the content they wanted
- There was a general agreement that the look-and-feel of the homepage was dated
What UserJourneys Did
- Carried out an expert usability review of the safefood homepage
- Made a list of recommended usability changes
- Created wireframe designs for the new homepage
- Provided a visual designer to turn the interaction design into a high-fidelity design
- Made recommendations on an improved navigation structure and information architecture
- Carried out remote usability testing on two alternate navigation schemes, and compared results
- Held workshops with safefood web team and other stakeholders to present findings and explore proposed solutions
Outcome
Since the homepage redesign and the implementation of the UserJourneys recommendations, the safefood website KPIs have all increased significantly
“The results were immediate. We have seen a 38% improvement in our bounce rate. Users seem to ‘get us’ easier. From the homepage our content is now easier, and quicker, to find.”
– Colman Kelly, Digital Content Executive, safefood
“Mike and his team helped us finally get a handle on the site structure. Others had tried; he succeeded. He explains exactly what is required in a very clear and uncomplicated manner and he also states what is a waste of time. We have seen some very quick results, a testament to his good work.”
– Fiona Gilligan, Director of Communications and Marketing, safefood