The San Jose City website receives over 2 million visitors a year as the City’s digital front door. Using evidence-based user research, we redesigned its front page to be more useful and faster loading.
THE CHALLENGE
Users revealed in a survey that they were frustrated by that the images and writing didn’t match in the dynamic carousel. The front page took almost 16 seconds on mobile; we are aiming for 5 seconds. Also, the carousel was so large that it pushed useful “Top Requested” buttons beneath the “fold.”
WHAT WE DID
Mocked up several alternatives and tested them against the existing design through an online remote preference test. 25 people responded. We used the results to influence the Communications team (owner of the website).
RESULT
We were unable to build out the winning Option 1 (see below) because of the complexity involved, but Option 2 is now implemented on the City’s beta site.
“Imagine you are trying to accomplish something online (like adopt a pet) through the San Jose City website. Which home page option seems the most easy to use?”
We received 25 responses. Here are the results:
Option 1 (the winner)
45% preferred - Internal search
“City pages [have] many functions. I believe it's best to optimize the search functionality and use the search bar as the main tool…” - One respondent
“Because it gives me the option to enter my exact query.” - One respondent
41% preferred - Reduced image
“Less space wasted with a photo, straight to the content.” - One respondent
Option 3
9% preferred - Static image, same size as original
Option 4 (original)
5% preferred - Rotating carousel image