ORC’s work is as diverse as the region it serves and they needed a website that would allow them to work in partnership with the region to promote sustainable development.
Otago’s natural beauty lends itself to being a world-renowned destination, one where rugged coastlines give way to spectacular mountains and alpine lakes. Charged with managing this region’s natural resources is Otago Regional Council (ORC), who look after the land, air and water resources on behalf of the community.
We worked with ORC staff and stakeholders to understand the needs of both those communicating and receiving information.
To ensure the money required to design and build a new website is an efficient and effective investment, four key principles guided the design, build, prioritisation and decision making of this project.
- Information light - Impact Heavy
- Information that enables decision making
- User centric
- Promotes self-service
Putting the user front and centre, with a clear and intuitive navigation and powerful search functionality.
The website ingrates with ORC’s environmental data monitoring systems, so the public can seamlessly access real time information about river flows and rainfall, air quality and soil saturation.
Easy access to critical information
With in-built alert functionality, users can now easily access critical information about bus, river flow, water quality, and civil defence warnings, empowering the user to make informed decisions.
An integrated feedback mechanism that is accessible from every page
To ensure the website continues to meet the needs of users, we created a feedback mechanism that is integrated with every page, allowing the visitor to tell ORC whether or not the page was useful.
This feedback gives real-time insights from actual users, allowing staff to make and prioritise future developments to the site.
