University of Washington Police Department Site Redesign
Project Overview
The University of Washington Police Department (UWPD) needed an overhaul of their website, both from a content strategy and WordPress theme standpoint. Various members of the Campus Community Safety division collaborated with us to come up with the best solution for updating the site and bringing it onto a theme that we support and provide. The ultimate goal of the site was to make sure that no matter who came to the site looking for resources they were able to get to the information that they needed and felt most comfortable with.
My Role & Responsibilities:
UX Research
Stakeholder Engagement
Ideation
Wireframing
Sitemapping
Usability/User Testing
Prototyping
Content Strategy
Project launch
Other Members: Jeff Hendrickson, various partners from UW’s Campus Community Safety Division
Timeline: Roughly 7 months
Project launch date: May 12, 2023
Redesign the UWPD site so that various UW community members have easy access to the safety resources and information that they need with the additional goal of ensuring that future site management was as easy as possible for site owners.
Competitive Analysis
To gain a better understanding of the subject matter, I conducted a competitive analysis of 17 different police departments and similar units on other university campuses, including the UWPD site. Sites were chosen based on regional similarities, with some variation for both larger and smaller areas. Non-university departments were also included to provide insights into how those websites functioned and disseminated information.
An inventory of the types of content displayed on the homepages and the language used helped inform our content strategy for the new site. It was interesting to see which sites provided pathways for users to alternative resources outside of their department or unit.
Content Audit
After the competitive analysis, I reviewed all publicly accessible pages on the UWPD site and performed a content audit, taking notes on the types of content on each page so I could cross-reference them with the questions I gathered during the competitive analysis. This further enhanced my understanding of the subject matter, allowing me to ask the right questions of the subject matter experts we were collaborating with on this project.
One of the main questions I asked our partners was what legally needed to be included on the site. We learned about the Clery Act, which dictates much of what these groups on university campuses must disclose to the public. Identifying the content that was legally required made it easier for me to recommend what could be removed from the site.
Wireframing
Initially, I sketched a homepage wireframe on graph paper to explore ideas for the new design. The initial wireframe included a sidebar, where I also considered the types of content that should be present in all sidebars on the website. These items included contact information, a pathway to online reporting, recent news, and accreditation information. Certain services that our UWPD partners wanted to showcase—such as the SafeZone App, safety escort services, and device and bike registration—were incorporated into the design using cards.
The next step was to convert the low-fidelity wireframes into a more accessible digital version that our partners could view and choose between. This is also when I created a non-sidebar option, which changed the design around the “Contact Us” section.
Providing emergency and non-emergency information prominently on every page was crucial, so I proposed using a website alert banner to include those phone numbers, regardless of whether the page had a sidebar. I also included a way to display the news section and accreditation information in the non-sidebar format toward the bottom of the homepage.
By eliminating the sidebar, we increased the number of cards displayed to three across, opening up opportunities to include more important services and resources for the community.
Sitemapping
Old Menu Navigation
The old menu navigation included items that could have been combined or eliminated. Some items, like “Love Your Stuff,” did not effectively communicate what the link would lead to. Services such as bike registration were placed under “Community Engagement” instead of the “Services” section. As a result, a general reorganization of the menu navigation was necessary.
New Menu Navigation
The main goal of the new menu navigation was to provide clear pathways to the information that users would need. Since this is a campus safety site, we aimed to ensure that people could easily access the help they required and were most comfortable using. There was also a need to balance these essential resources with components that legally had to be included, such as Clery information, crime report forms, and the 60-day log.
We decided to place the “About” section immediately after the pathway to home on the far left, with “Services” following it to cater to the typical left-to-right reading pattern. “Contact Us” was positioned on the far right to make it stand out more, as it could otherwise get lost among the other menu items.
User Testing
Due to time constraints and the sensitive nature of the content covered on the site, we focused our user testing on specific UW staff members who had significant involvement with the student population. We were also able to test with some student interns, who provided valuable insights into the site. One key takeaway was the feedback regarding wellness checks and mental health resources overall. The testing also confirmed the theory that contact information and various safety services would be the most important features for users visiting the site.
Project Launch
Screen recording of old UW Police homepage
Old Homepage Overview
The old UWPD homepage was primarily text-based, with much of the content outdated. There was a lack of visuals to break up the text, and no clear pathways to necessary information. Additionally, the site was difficult to edit due to the theme it was using, which compounded the outdated nature of the content.
Screen recording of UW Police homepage after redesign launch.
New Homepage Overview
The new homepage incorporated many more visuals and reduced the amount of text. With contact information established as the most important element on the site, it was placed at the very top of the page, followed by priority services. Multiple pathways to other campus safety resources played a major role in our decision-making because, ultimately, the goal was to help users access the assistance they needed and felt most comfortable with.
When sorting through imagery for the site, it was important to convey openness while ensuring that anyone featured on the site gave permission. A section highlighting Chief Wilson added a personal touch to the department, whereas before, images of people on the site were sparse.