Redesigning Kingston Council's website around user needs
The Kingston Council website redesign focused on improving how residents find, understand, and access council services.
The existing site had grown organically over time, resulting in a complex structure, inconsistent navigation, and content that reflected internal teams rather than user needs.
Working as part of a multidisciplinary team, I brought a service design perspective to the project — connecting user journeys, content, and service delivery to shape a clearer and more usable site.
Key Findings + Outstanding Questions
The challenge
-
The old Kingston website structure reflected internal organisation, not user mental models
-
Residents struggled to find the right information or next steps
-
Content was fragmented, repetitive, and difficult to navigate
-
Over 4,000 pages made the site difficult to manage and improve
-
Navigation is complex, there were 48 "5th level" menus in the old website navigation - making online journey extra hidden and complex for users.
User centric team + Service areas
How we worked
1. Discover
We analysed top tasks, analytics data, and in-page feedback to understand what users were trying to do and where they were struggling.
2. Map and analyse
We mapped key user journeys across services and looked at how other councils structured similar content to identify patterns and gaps.
3. Collaborate
We worked closely with service teams through workshops to sense-check insights, validate journeys, and co-create a more user-centred structure.
4. Reshape the structure
We restructured navigation and service landing pages based on user needs and top tasks, rather than internal hierarchies.
5. Design and deliver
We worked with UX and content design to develop consistent page types, components, and navigation patterns that could scale across the site.
We worked closely with our analytics consultant to visualise the site structure before and after the redesign.
The original site showed a highly fragmented structure, with pages loosely connected and difficult to navigate.
After the redesign, the structure became more organised and clustered around clearer categories, making it easier for users to understand and move through the site and no more orphan pages!
Before & After
From fragmented to structured navigation
Before vs After
What changed
Last thoughts...
Outcomes
Data-led decisions
We used analytics, top task analysis, and user feedback to prioritise what mattered most to users.
Simplified information architecture
We restructured the site around clearer categories and reduced unnecessary complexity.
Clearer navigation and page structure
We introduced consistent page types and navigation patterns to support easier scanning and movement through the site.
Improved service pages
Entry points and task-focused content were clearer, helping users understand what to do next.
Better measurement and iteration
Improved tagging and analytics created a stronger foundation for ongoing improvement.
-
A clearer, more user-centred website structure
While we had to make some compromises to meet launch timelines, the overall structure is significantly clearer and easier for users to navigate. -
Navigation organised around user needs and key journeys
Shaped by research and real user behaviour, rather than internal service structures. -
Reduced complexity
We flattened the navigation, reducing deep-level menus from 49 to 4 — making the site much easier to scan and move through. -
Better alignment between digital journeys and service delivery
We worked closely with each service teams to bring them along the journey — giving them space to review, challenge, and shape how their services are represented online. -
Stronger collaboration within project teams
Design, content, research and analytics worked closely throughout, building shared understanding. -
A more scalable foundation for future improvements
The new structure gives the council a much stronger starting point to continue improving content and services over time.