Problem:

Based on our findings from the affinity board, we found that when many of our participants were looking for specific resources, they would attempt to use the global search bar first. Currently, Start Research’s local search is hidden away by the Quick Search button, but many users did not notice it or could not find it. Some users also found the information to be formatted too densely, which made navigating through content to be overwhelming. Users also commented on having to double click to view the tags.

Problem:

The current navigation bar is a poor reflection of the true purposes of the web pages and fails to assist the intended user flow. The current order takes users on an explorative user flow to obtain an overview (Get the Facts), and conduct research (Start Research), but interrupts the user flow with the ability to join organizations (Campaign and Coalitions). The second flow, an investigative flow, is interrupted as users go from "Register" to learning about the organization (About) to "Briefs", which continues the explorative flow. "Register" and "Briefs" confused users about the purpose of the pages. Users mistook "Register" for joining the actual project and signing up for a mailing list. Many users recommended using "Join Us", the current page header, since it better reflected the form on the page. Many users were also confused by "Briefs". Many did not understand the actual intent of the page and found the function of the current page to be a duplicate of Start the Research. 

Problem:

As an information website with multi-layers of information hierarchy, accessible navigation to drill down into more detailed research would be quintessential to align with the Poseidon Project’s objectives. Research from the user testing sessions have revealed that participants struggled to navigate through the pages due to a lack of clarity and continuity within the page’s objectives. 

Recommendation:

Through our moderated testing, we found that many users defaulted to using the search first when looking for a resource, so we made the search bar more prominent and accessible to users. The original drop down categories were moved to a sidebar to function as filters to narrow searches and make browsing easier. We reformatted resources into cards to improve information hierarchy and to make the content less visually overwhelming. This also improved issues of padding or margins between each resource.

Recommendation:

To better improve the user flow and communicate the purposes of each web page, the navigation bar had titles renamed and re-ordered. The "Briefs" page was transformed into "Deep Dive" to present a holistic view of the robust information on the website.

The new navigation bar was renamed and re-ordered titles to better guide an explorative user flow. The new order separated the two user flows (exploratory and investigative). Users now obtain an overview (Get the Facts), conduct Research (Start Research), and end the explorative journey with Deep Dive: a holistic view of the previous material. "Join Us" is placed at the end with a background color to visually separate itself from other pages, as it is the only page that calls to action.

The "Briefs" page is renamed "Deep Dive" to represent the new page's purpose. Users are now able to dive deeper into the curated articles, documents, and other materials in a holistic view. The content is presented in a carousel format to reduce the amount of cards users see at once. The buttons are changed to chevrons to convey functionality and encourage users to interact with the content. The materials are separated by topic, allowing users to obtain an overview of the materials related to each topic and discover topics.

Recommendation:

As a means to provide continuity within the user journey, our team initially suggested a fixed “Back to the Top” button or a side-menu that provides a quick, accessible change between pages. Within the user pools that we observed, we also noticed that users tend to scroll back onto the header’s many rather than use the quick links located within the footer. After many trials and tribulations over different prototypes, a dedicated “Learn More” section above the footer would serve the greatest efficiency in retargeting the users’ attention in the research journey while communicating a context of each pages’ objectives.