PCAOB

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board's old website was outdated and needed a refresh. Information was fragmented and hard to find, there was a lack of cohesion in the visual design, and there wasn't enough context for users to effectiviely complete their tasks. In order to get the new site to a better place our team decided to break up the redesign into two phases: Phase one would focus on triage, getting the site cleaned up and organized with a few new features and a new look. Phase two will focus on refinements and enhancements borne out of our research during phase one.

My Role & Activities

Lead UX Designer| User research & interviews, task analysis, business goal workshops, branding & messaging workshop, content audit, design brief, personas, sketching, wireframing & HTML prototyping, style guide.

Problem

Information was scattered amongst a sea of text and links without much context. Lots of redundant and outdated content existed and there was a lack of agreement and understanding about who the website should primarily serve. There was also differing ideas about what the purpose of the website should be in fulfilling PCAOB's mission.

Solutions

Create a shared understanding of who the primary users of the site are and what their main goals, motivations and tasks are. This was done through several workshops using KJ and Task Analysis. Individual interviews were also conducted with key stakeholders. A set of personas were created that reflected these audiences.
Identify and agree on PCAOB's primary strategic goals, brand and messages to ensure the site focuses on the right things and communicates them effectively. Branding workshops were the primary vehicle for doing this. Strategic pillars were created to help authors, editors and the design teams stay focused and make informed decisions about content and design.
Mega menus and landing pages were developed to provide users with a proper orientation of the main sections and put users on a clear path to completing their key tasks. Information was reorganized to make the "scent of information" stronger.
A fat footer was designed to provide users quick, global access to lower priority but important content.
The homepage was reimagined to reflect the new priorities of PCAOB.
A backlog of features for phase two was compiled, which include: records & filings section, audit quality check, quick start for new firms, top tasks pathways, and search enhancements.

Project Artifacts

Screen Shot 2018-02-20 at 10.58.25 AM	Screen Shot 2018-02-20 at 10.59.11 AM	Screen Shot 2018-02-20 at 10.59.23 AM	Task Analysis Overview	Auditor Tasks
Auditor Outcomes (pre sort)	Auditor Outcomes	Investors Outcome	Public Company Outcomes	Registration Process Story mapping the registration process over time
Migration	Release Plan	Task Analysis Breakdown across audiences	Task Analysis Evaluation of feasibility	Task Analysis Summary
Task Comparison	Audience Matrix	Audit CommitteePersona	Auditor Persona	Job Seeker Persona
Branding Workshop Term comparison	Strategic Pillars	Homepage Options	Home Option 1	Home Option 2
Home Wireframes	Home Comp 1	Home Comp 1.2	Home Comp 2	Content Type Overview
Content Model Large Feature	Content Model Small Feature	Content Model News	Homepage Rules	Navigation Details