Local Government New Zealand Have a Great New Website

We conducted a series of usability studies, in conjunction with Local Government New Zealand staff. We quickly confirmed that people were struggling to understand the site, and find the many resources there. There's no rocket science here, just the site had outgrown its structure, however it was good to pin-point where the problems were, and where they weren't!

A fresh new design was implemented, in conjunction with a less complex navigation scheme. Industry jargon was replaced with plain English terms. As the content was already in the Kea Content Management System, applying the new look and feel to the pages simply required a new skin to be applied to the "refreshed" content.

The big challenge was what to do with the resource library. The original "Bookshelf" section was intended to house a few dozen important and relevant resources. This section has grown into a library of several hundred resources.

We implemented Koha, our free library system, so that resources can be catalogued, and searched via a familiar library OPAC interface. As the library grows Koha will easily accommodate the extra materials, and we're sure this great resource will be the place to go for local government information.

Local Government New Zealand continue their excellent service to their members, publishing relevant news items and job notices, and keeping everyone up to date with events and happenings via their calendar.

Please feel free to visit the site, www.lgnz.co.nz, and see for yourself.

Posted By: Rachel -at- katipo.co.nz