The Ask

Completely transform Energy.gov by implementing a new brand guideline to create a visually appealing, consistent, and scalable website. This involved redefining the information architecture, collaborating with the AI team on taxonomy tagging, and developing a library of reusable components and page templates to streamline content creation and ensure brand consistency across all pages, both new and existing.

The Challenge

There were a few “fun” factors that went into this project. First, there had been previously designed wireframes that lacked consistency, accessibility, and feasibility. Second, there was a desire to change the IA of the entire site, the client had an idea for a completely different bundling of information. Lastly, our timeline, we had 4 months to a go-live deadline. We got to work fast.

Audit

To assess the site's current state, my team conducted a comprehensive audit of the information architecture, component library, and content taxonomy. We compared approved wireframes with live pages, identifying inconsistencies, accessibility issues, and missing components. Following this audit, I facilitated strategic alignment meetings with the client and development team to implement a new IA structure. This structure organized content by topic rather than government-specific names, improving information retrieval efficiency. We then rebuilt the sitemap to incorporate both existing and new topic pages.

Utilizing the new sitemap we defined how many different page templates we would need to create. We mapped the templates to the sitemap and then set out to design the new global components such as the mega menu and footer.

Design Library

Working in close collaboration with the brand team, the design team defined our design library, starting with foundational elements and progressing to full page templates. We consistently delivered approximately two full page templates per week, resulting in a total of 19 templates. We provided individual components and full page templates to the development team on a weekly basis.

Content Strategy

Simultaneously, our content team developed content gathering forms tailored to each page template and distributed them to 49 Department of Energy offices. These forms facilitated the collection of new content for the topic-specific pages each office would manage. We also conducted comprehensive training sessions to educate department representatives on the new site structure and content management system (CMS) updates.

Accomplishments

Met 4.5-month timeline:

• Designed 76 reusable components

• Designed 19 templates

• Collected content for 114 pages

• Built 148 pages in the CMS

• Launched new site

Overcame siloes and joining project midway

• Took on project from another contractor with 4.5 months left to launch

• Joined large dev team that has been O&M team for existing site

• Joined dev process to ensure design and content communication and integrity

Orchestrated content creation from 49 offices for 114 pages

• Set timelines and phased contest requests

• Developed page templates and sent to offices

• Received and edited content for 114 pages