BACK STORY
Houston Public Works in partnership with creative think tank Langrand set out to rebrand and demystify a city program that aims to improve drainage and streets across the city...oh, and the Mayor gave us ONE MONTH to do it!
GOALS + IMPACT
Community & technical stakeholders collaborated in a series of meetings to identify top priorities for the new site. The impact, together we created a site that:
1. is super-easy to navigate (find information in as few clicks as possible)
2. responsive on all devices (yes, even the maps)
3. easy to understand (layman's terms and NO acronyms)
4. shows what's happening both across the city (big picture) & on any street
5. answers the most frequently asked questions (no fancy engineer-terms here!)
Interactive, responsive, maps allow users to filter by project types, status or even council district. The coolest feature...zoom in five clicks and you can even see the thousands of pothole repairs that are made in Houston!
Project information is easy to understand and also offers both a google map or street view
EXPERIENCE + OBJECTIVES
the new site is unexpected, easy to navigate, and offers a fresh perspective on local improvement projects. The objective of fulfilling our stakeholders goals, highlighting Houston Public Works new brand AND meeting the Mayor's deadline were met spot-on.
A secondary goal was to educate the community on the TYPES of projects Houston Public Works does. This offers the City an opportunity to begin to build common terms and project taxonomy.
A simple infographic of financial data clearly explains the impact of the program.
We took 311 data, google page analytics from the old website, stakeholder feedback and just asked employees "what are the TOP 5 questions you are always asked about the program?"
Our graphic designer took actual photos from Houston Public Works to create the top three images above. Funny "it's all in the detail" Story: the license plates from the stock images of the vehicles had to be changed to TEXAS!
