NYC Parks
Information
Architecture
How to Make Park Information More Accessible and User-Friendly
Project Vision
The New York City Department of Parks and Recreation is a government agency responsible for the maintenance and preservation of the city's parks system, ecological diversity, and provision of recreational opportunities to residents and visitors.
Our goal is to let them access and use park information quickly and easily, and plan their trips more effectively. We noticed that the current website’s navigation system was not helpful for the users to find what they were looking for. So our challenge is … HOW MIGHT WE design a better navigation system that makes the website’s information more accessible and user-friendly.
Orignal Site Navigation Annotation
FEATURE ANALYSIS
Despite differences in business models, we discovered significant overlaps in features with our comparators. This observation holds strategic importance for the future, as we can leverage key structures currently employed by competitors and comparators.
Research & Evaluation
Tree Test
Assessing the navigation structure and information hierarchy, ensuring intuitive and efficient user interactions with the site's content and features.
Card Sorting
Through card sorting, users can organize and categorize information NYCparks, improving its organization and understanding user expectations for navigation and content grouping.
Success Rate
Measures the effectiveness of the website in guiding users to the correct category.
63%
Directness
Indicates the efficiency of the website's navigation and user flow.
Time Spent
Evaluates the usability and efficiency of completing tasks on the website.
19 secs
Path Measures
Reveals user preferences and provides insights for optimizing category prominence.
HEURISTIC EVALUATION
CLOSED CARD SORTING (PROPOSED SITE NAVIGATION)
By reducing the number of categories on the home page, we have employed vertical menus with key terms instead of an extensive list of specific categories on a separate page. To enhance user experience, optimize the dropdown menu by ensuring clear and easily scannable link labels.
This approach streamlines navigation and helps users quickly find relevant information.
SITEMAP (PROPOSED SITE NAVIGATION)
TREE STUDY (PROPOSED SITE NAVIGATION)
Success Rate
Measures the effectiveness of the website in guiding users to the correct category.
90%
Directness
Indicates the efficiency of the website's navigation and user flow.
Time Spent
Evaluates the usability and efficiency of completing tasks on the website.
17 secs
Path Measures
Reveals user preferences and provides insights for optimizing category prominence.
