Paving the Way for a Better Digital Experience for the Travelers
Case Study
Washington State Department of Transportation
The Problem
The Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) provides safe, reliable, and affordable transportation to improve the state’s communities and economy. With an average of 75,000 daily users—and over 400,000 during major weather events—WSDOT has the most-visited Washington state government website.
Their website is critical for accountability, transparency, and community engagement, but they hadn’t updated it in 15 years. This resulted in outdated information that was difficult for users to navigate and understand.
The Solution
We changed the focus of the website from organizational structure to user needs. To simplify the content, we reduced the number of pages from 14,000 to less than 2,000 and created a clear content layout. Our team also worked to make the website accessible on any type of device.
Our solutions included:
Branding and Design Strategy
Creating a cohesive look and feel for the website.
Content Strategy
Improving website content and creating new processes with 30 content editors and 5 content leads.
Information Architecture
Providing recommendations for restructuring 6 sections of the website.
Project Meetings
Handling monthly project status updates and planning with the steering committee.
Training & Coaching
Creating a governance plan for trainings on accessibility and Writing for the Web, as well as refresher trainings for employees.
Digital Accessibility
Auditing accessibility throughout development, and conducting usability studies with people with disabilities.
User Research
Conducting 7 user research activities to gather feedback from more than 2,000 users.
The WSDOT website before and after the redesign. The new website features streamlined content and improved navigation.
The Impact
Users can now easily find important travel information without frustration. This is reflected in the website’s improved system usability score (SUS), which rose by 27 points and increased their grade from F to A.
By encouraging WSDOT teams to adopt human-centered design (HCD), we helped them understand user needs and provide better information and tools for safe travel. Training employees on HCD has ensured that their agency can handle future website updates well after this project.
How the new WSDOT website looks on a mobile device. The redesigned experience works well on both desktop and mobile devices.
Awards and Accolades
- Anthem Awards - Best Use of Responsible Technology
- Communicator Awards - Best Transportation Website, Best Website Redesign, Best State Website for Government, Travel for Mobile Apps, Website Application Services
- Davey Awards - Best Use of Navigation for Websites, Best Website Redesign
- Vega Awards - Website and Mobile Sites for Government, Mobile Sites for Transportation
- w3 Awards - Best User Interface, Best State Government Website, Best User Experience for Mobile, Best Structure and Navigation, Best User Experience, Best General Transportation Website