Manchester City Council re-invents the government website with ‘mobile first’ responsive web design

Collaborative working see’s new government site innovate for mobile.

Manchester City Council and leading global Web Experience Management vendor Jadu have partnered to create a new website, designed with the mobile user front of mind. Using the latest Responsive Web Design (#RWD) techniques, 'Spacecraft' (Jadu's Design and UX team) worked closely with the council's in-house digital team to create a mobile first structure for the Council which led to the development of a major re-work to the website.

Manchester.gov.uk delivered over 20m page views in 2012, Manchester City is one of the largest cities in the UK and operates on an international stage.

The Council's research showed that 80 per cent of people visit the site to carry out specific tasks and its desire for a more task-orientated, easier to use site was complemented by the CMS and 'XFP', Jadu's online Forms technology which Jadu were able to offer. The site launched on April 30th to a massive design community response.

"Manchester City Council have always had a globally recognised brand" Says Suraj Kika, CEO of Jadu "Both we and the Council wanted to make sure we developed an experience that future proofed that and put users on mobile, tablet and Smart TV devices firmly in the middle of the web experience. We wanted to use the new Jadu Universe CMS features to demonstrate the power of delivery to the device as well as the desktop."

Jadu believes this website will be another new benchmark for government web design leading on from the recent launch of GOV.UK. Lee Pilmore Head of Creative, Jadu said "This website demonstrates the benefits of true collaboration and it's been great to work with a client that shares our vision. The response from the international design community on twitter has been amazing and much more importantly, so has the response from the public."

"By making it easy for everyone across Manchester to get the information they need no matter what device they are on," Says Scott Riley, User Experience Designer at Jadu  "together, we have created a bright new standard for government website design."

Councillor Nigel Murphy, Executive Member for Environment for Manchester City Council, said: "We've looked carefully at what residents actually use our website for and redesigned it with their needs in mind. It's also been tested by real people who tell us that they find it refreshingly easy to use.

"The way people use the internet has changed dramatically, and as half of all visits to our website will be made using tablets and smart phones within a couple of years, we've made sure it can be used easily on these devices as well as more traditional computers. We believe this sets a new benchmark for council websites.

"With all councils facing more and more budget constraints and Manchester having been particularly hard hit, encouraging as many people as possible to access services online whenever and wherever they want not only helps residents but also enables us to deliver those services more cost effectively. Having a well-designed website is therefore hugely beneficial."

Jadu has grown globally over the past 2 years, having established its US business, Jadu, Inc. which now powers dozens of significant Higher Education websites across the US. The company is launching it's business in Australia later this month.

manchester.gov.uk

Published: 16th May 2013