Constructing something new

They ensure that no one is disadvantaged based on where they’re located and can access the same opportunities as everyone else – such as those living in a main city, or close to public transport options.

A Machinery of Government administrative change resulted in some internal roadblocks that needed fixing. With a goal to improve cross divisional communication and break down walls between two separate departments, a cultural shift needed to be enabled by a digital shift. We partnered with DITRDCA to reconnect their workforce by consolidating two existing, separate intranets into one elevated and connected digital workspace.

Our full-service team including a delivery manager, developers, content designers, experience and visual designers and business analysts, created a solution that would make for an easier ride.

A department wide survey established that employees wanted to search and find information easier, be able to edit and update functionality over time, collaborate and share with others, find key resources, forms and templates, connect with colleagues, and to simplify the onboarding process.

In total, our content team audited over 1,000 content pages across the two separate intranets.

A key issue across both platforms was duplicated and out of date content, incomplete staff profiles, an incomplete document management system, and a confusing search engine capability that didn’t accurately capture everything it should.

We also found that of the two intranets, one held more reliable documentation on their Information Management System (IMS) while the other was easier to navigate and held more general information to help staff. These were two vital findings that influenced the design and development phase of the project.

Our discovery gave insight into the wants and needs of the DITRDCA team, to design and build a manageable and accessible solution. This research culminated in a clear understanding of the 5 top priority services, which were the core areas focused on during the design stage.

DITRDCA wanted an intelligent Resource Hub and other customised features including a simpler and more accessible news and events function. Working with the LiveTiles tech, our developers created pop-up modals which allowed for quick and easy access from anywhere within. With the ability to filter, tag and search for any resource or document, DITRDCA employees could now find the information they needed to accomplish their tasks more quickly.

Our designers created a range of reusable page templates in line with the DITRDCA’s style guide for a modern and consistent look across the many hundreds of content pages awaiting creation.

A thorough content audit enabled us to slice and dice pages that were old, duplicated, or had incorrect information on them. We conducted Treejack testing to compare the existing user experience and make recommendations on a new information architecture. We worked closely with internal subject matter experts to rewrite their content to be accessibility friendly and in line with the Australian Government Style Manual.

With a fresh new digital workspace unique to them, DITRDCA employees are spending less time driving two different intranets and more time getting their job done. The ability to filter, tag and search for any resource or document means that employees are now completing tasks a lot quicker.

Designing this from a human-led approach means that DITRDCA get a digital workspace that incorporates all their favourite parts from the old intranets, their wish list for a new intranet, plus a couple of amazing new features. The customised aspects of the site build out a solid framework to future proof management of this important tool well into the future.