United Nations Website Redesign
- The United Nations is the place where the world’s nations can gather together, discuss common problems and find shared solutions.
- There is an evident navigation issue with their website. The purpose of this project is to improve the experience when researching and finding information on the UN site
ROLE
Project lead
Bootcamp project IXBF
TEAM
Catalina Beltrán
Solo project
DURATION
April 22 – July 22
12 weeks
MAIN ISSUES
• Excessive information on the landing page
• Information not organised: all over the place
• Finding specific information is difficult, not intuitive
• Pages cluttered and not coherent
• Visual design challenges
• No clear social media integration
PROBLEM STATEMENT
“I am a person interested in finding out more about the sustainability projects of the UN but it’s difficult because there is no clear order and the information is everywhere which makes me feel confused and frustrated.”
DESIGN PROCESS
EMPATHISE
Analyse problem
Competitive analysis
User research
DEFINE
User personas
Empathy map
User journey map
IDEATE
User flows
Card sorting
Information architecture
PROTOTYPE
Wireframing
Hi-fi designs
Prototyping
TEST
Feedback (interviews) Conclusions
HOW DO WE COMPARE TO THE COMPETITION?
• In general, the UN has a lot of information about the issues at hand, the problem is actually locating the information.
• In comparison to other websites, the UN’s website does not invite users to participate on programs easily.
• In terms of trust, the information displayed can seem as trustworthy.
• The site seems secure, as it is an official website. It doesn’t ask for any personal information.
• Other similar websites have better connection with social media channels.
MAIN USERS
Defining proto-personas
After analysing our main proto-personas (with empathy and journey maps), all of whom would have valid reasons to navigate the UN’s website for information and research purposes, I decided to explore Masters Mia’s profile in depth. To achieve this, I set up a series of interviews with users who resembled this profile.
INTERVIEWS AND MAIN INSIGHTS
3
Interviews
Via Zoom - recorded
Open-ended questions
Usability tests
• I wanted to know and identify the pain points, needs, motivations and goals of the profiles closer to Masters Mia.
• To do so, I scheduled 3 interviews via Zoom, which I recorded.
• In said interviews, I asked a series of open ended questions to better understand their research process, what tools they used and why.
• In addition to this, I asked the interviewees to perform a series of tasks on the UN’s website and asked some follow-up questions on the experience. The main insights were the following:
The visual content is not inviting – can be confusing sometimes
The overall content seems vague on the website, even though there seems to be a lot of content.
The time it takes to find information is excessive. There is no clear way to get to relevant information.
The information on the website is not organised logically.
Having information on local events/ local resources would be of great help.
The search bar could use some improvement. The information it shows is confusing.
Changing language is key (some of the participants navigated the page in Spanish)
It would be great to have a better social media integration to be updated daily on issues happening.
STARTING IDEATION WITH POVs AND HMWs
MADLIB
I worked on a series of POV tables and madlibs to arrive at HMW questions.
How might we organise the information better?
How might we shorten the road between the query and the answer?
How might we help, through visual cues, guide the user to relevant information?
How might we have relevant information more readily available?
IDEAS - THE WHAT AND THE HOW
The UN’s site is enormous, as it holds a huge amount of information. It was necessary to identify the GOALS of the site to understand how could we make it better.
To do so, it was important to look at the information architecture as well as the user flows to understand HOW we might help resolve the ultimate goal.
To resolve this issue, I worked on the TAXONOMY of the site:
Taking the pre-existing elements, I grouped them better so we could simplify the home page.
Similar and duplicated elements were shuffled so we could have a more intuitive navigation.
Simplifying the home page will make the user journey better.
IA - NEW SUGGESTED NAVIGATION
• Instead of having eight main pages, I simplified by having just five.
• The layers are better organised and more connected between them.
• Better grouping was created to make the information easier to find – more intuitive.
LO-FI IDEAS AND INITIAL DESIGNS
From the WMH questions and the AI solution as well as thinking about the user flows, I started looking into first approximations of HOW the final design could look.
WIREFRAMES - GIVING THE SITE MORE DIRECTION
It’s essential to have several pathways, reiterations, so that the information can be reached rapidly and efficiently
OUTCOME
I created a high fidelity prototype of the website, which I had my initial interviewees test – Masters Mia profile.
I had a similar Zoom session in which I conducted a usability test by asking them to perform some basic tasks.
I also asked some open ended questions regarding the general look and feel of the site (UI).
Taking into account the learnings of the usability test and second interviews, I designed the second and last prototype.
UNITED NATIONS NEW WEBSITE PROTOTYPE
The website was completely redesigned:
• The main news was stylised as more of a news outlet
• The search bar opens when clicked
• The drop down menus were added to a newly organised information
• Specific icons are showcased to start creating icon recognition and simplicity Better social media integration
VIDEO BELOW FOR WORKING PROTOTYPE:
MENU BAR
The Menu Bar will help locate all the information in an easy way via drop-down accordion style menus. The menu will have a scroll bar so all the information can be accessed easily, reducing clutter.
SPECIFIC PAGES
• All the pages have a cohesive and more organised design.
• All of them will have a brief description of the subject as well as an invitation to get involved – the idea is for more people to participate/donate, which is the UN’s ultimate
• In terms of the specific subjects, apart from the description and menus, global and local news can be readily available for those who need more information about the subject on a global and local scale. goal.
IMPROVING THE SITE FURTHER
Look and feel
How will this work on mobile/ tablet? For further iterations, it would be interesting to see how the site can work better on different devices.
Accessibility
How can we make it more accessible for everyone? For further iterations, it would be great to evaluate and plan for better accessibility. As it is the UN, it definitely needs to cater for everyone.
Personalised content
How can we reach people with what they need/ want? Join the UN/ Personalised Newsletters? How can we make it so that your personal profile is catered for in terms of content?
Rethink menus
It would be perfect to have a broader usability test with a better focus on menus and how they can work better.
Search bar
Algorithmic integration as well as designing filters to help it work better for the users.
Usability test- employees
Do the employees use the site?/ what do they need from it? – Revise IA after talking to them.
MAIN TAKE-OUTS
• A site like the UN can be overwhelming. It has infinite information about projects and cases all around the world… but that doesn’t mean that the website has to be as such. Like many other websites that deliver information, it can be better organised and planned so that it is more intuitive. This will not only help people find what they need but the UN to actually gain followers, participants and donors.
• One does not connect to mere information. One connects with stories, with other humans who may be struggling, with a dyeing planet. By making the site more user-friendly, more easily navigable and understandable, the user will be able to connect better without being overwhelmed. This will, in turn, result in better connection, participation and donation.
• As I mentioned before, this is only the first of many steps to help the site improve. By making sure the information architecture and user flows improve, we are also helping people navigate on our site seamlessly, even spending more time on the site. By improving the design, making it less cluttered, more visually attractive, we are helping the users to navigate it better on a cognitive level.
• Overall the redesign will make the site thrive… and help many people on the way.
