Process
Leading the user experience and design phase of this project, I applied a human-centred approach to prototype, test and design AusCERT’s new website.
AusCERT is a not-for-profit organisation providing memberships to organisations nation-wide to protect them from cyber-based threats and attacks. During an external discovery workshop facilitated alongside my colleagues at Orange Digital, we brainstormed with the client’s marketing and development teams to align on the website’s main goals:
- to provide clear and timely cyber threat alerts to security analysts and IT professionals
- attract membership enquiries
With these objectives in mind, the full research and design phases kicked off.
User Research & Site Map
Based on research gathered by our marketing team, user personas and journeys were created, which played an integral role in crafting a new, simplified site map.
The solution guides prospective members on a journey through AusCERT’s services, linking each page with relevant resources such as articles and security bulletins. All the while, ‘Become a Member’ has been positioned prominently in the menu and throughout the site’s content as the primary call to action.
UI/UX Design & Prototyping
Next up — wireframing, designing in Sketch and linking up the prototype in InVision.
Once we presented the user personas, journeys and site map to the client, I took pencil to paper to sketch out wireframes of all the pages needed to be designed for user testing and development. Having worked on AusCERT’s brand refresh and print collateral months prior with another designer, I now needed to adapt the design to digital, building out a full design language that was both consistent and scalable.
Using Sketch as a design tool, I drew inspiration from other IT websites, design trends and the classic ‘dark mode’ screens used by developers. Marrying a bold colour palette, typography, iconography, patterns, imagery and effective use of space I crafted a hifi prototype ready to test on users.
User Testing, Iteration & Final Designs
Once linked up in InVision, the prototype was tested on users that fit within the three persona groups identified in the research phase.
By creating space for open and honest feedback and asking non-bias questions in face-to-face user tests, I was able to extract valuable insights, prioritise and implement changes to the design. Once the design was updated, the prototype was signed off by the client, passed on for development, and finalised by AusCERT’s internal development team.
