Open Data Watch Website

Problem: As Open Data Watch prepared to celebrate its 10th anniversary, I noted the website design had not been updated since the overhaul I led in 2018, but a complete overhaul was not yet feasible.

Solution: Based on a review of the website and web traffic, I identified key UX and content improvements that would deliver the greatest impacts within our limited resources and timeline.

Role: Project Manager.

Time: September 2024 to October 2024.

Client: Open Data Watch (internal)

Research

I started by analyzing user behavior patterns in our web traffic data for the previous year using Google Analytics to inform how to prioritize our updates. This is how I answered the following questions:

  • What content has been most popular among our users?

    • The number of views and comparative popularity of pages showed which blogs, reports, and site pages we needed improve access to.

  • How do users enter the website?

    • Top landing pages highlighted content that drew users to the site. Search terms and landing pages from searches also revealed user questions and information needs.

  • Who are our users?

    • Countries of origin showed that our users were not only international partners, but also a country-level practitioners. Desktop vs mobile access suggested the extent of formal vs informal access.

Analyzing our web traffic showed users needed better access to our work.

The home page included only a short summary of our work with limited access to the content users were seeking. Formatting issues had emerged over time.

Few users navigated beyond the “Our Work” landing page to find project material within the sub-pages.

A review of the website revealed additional opportunities to streamline access to our work…

Content that shared discourse and events related to our work had been integrated into our newsletter and was no longer being separately updated on the Spotlight page.

…and refresh the design.

Banners throughout the website had not been updated since the original redesign that I led in 2018.

Design

To communicate proposed changes to management and the rest of the team, I created mock-ups.

Improving access to our work on the home page:

I proposed more succinct text and created space to provide direct access to four key projects.

Consolidating our work onto a single site page:

I developed a page with overviews of our three areas of work that could expand to show more. The mock-up showing the expanded content also recommended which projects would be featured and how.

Streamlining access to content through the newsletter:

I re-developed the newsletter section on the Spotlight page to highlight discourse and events.

Refreshing the website with new banners

I created many banner options for the home page that management and the team could choose from.

I also created three style options for banners throughout the rest of the website.

Publication

I oversaw the implementation of the designs based on feedback and WordPress theme limitations.

Spacing was a primary issue that we needed to address or adapt to.

Responsive design testing informed adjustments to the home page banner.

Reflection

A lot can be accomplished by targeting low-effort yet high-impact improvements. With a limited timeline and budget, we were still able to address issues on the website, fixing what was broken and updating its appearance in advance of the 10th anniversary social media campaign.

Designs must adhere to the limitations of the platform. My initial designs imagined even spacing that turned out to not be possible to implement within the current WordPress theme using our in-house HTML/CSS skills. An iterative process with more time for testing different options would have improved this.

Next

Creating a user-friendly platform to share monitoring and insights on gender data ecosystems