Under contract with Digicon Corporation, Ignition72 had the opportunity to design and build a new City Schools website that welcomes all users on any device to a visually positive and robust new website. This site includes important tools like the School Comparison, where kids and parents can explore various school options. We had to ensure that the site was multi-lingual and accessible, while empowering the School District to manage, control and update all aspects of the site.  

Learning + planning

Planning involved a detailed landscape analysis, including Google Analytics data, stakeholder outreach, surveys, user testing as well as an iterative planning review with all internal City School stakeholders. Audiences and their goals were defined, content mapped, functionality documented and wireframes generated to ensure that the City Schools team considered every possibility before settling on the best solution.

Style exploration

The new City Schools website is clean and clear, with bright primary color splashes to deliver a fresh and modern message, as well as appeal to students. Photography is very upbeat and positive, always showcasing a City Schools community member. Throughout the site color is brought in to draw the eye, but also to create an overwhelmingly positive user experience.

Design + development

Tailoring the design to our specific audience was very important, so we held multiple user feedback sessions early in the design phase. Walking community members through static layouts and clickable prototypes helped us reaffirm and tweak some of our design decisions.

The site was designed from scratch to be a new Drupal 8 powered system.

The new site launched in January 2019 and within the first month it had over 179K users visit the site over 378K times, spending 2:24 minutes on site, and viewing an average of 2.9 pages per visit. Compared with this time last year this is an increase of 195% in overall traffic, a 114% increase in average time on site and  a 198% increase in page views. The bounce rate, or number of people who leave from the first page in less than a minute, dropped by over 112%.

The new site includes robust Google Analytics facilitated through Google Tag manager, so we have granular data relating to everything that happens on the new site.

The final site is hosted by our partners the Digicon Corporation.

You don’t have to ever been to DC to have heard about the traffic: the gridlock is legendary. To help, Transurban developed the 495/95 Express Lanes: A pay as you go system of toll roads that can alleviate the crush in both directions, every day of the week. But managing the process was proving tricky: Fines and notifications were issued by mail, often taking weeks to resolve. Customers had limited access to live information including costs, live video and other resources to help them better plan their journeys.

Collaboration

Ignition72 worked with the Transurban team to put in place a back-office API connection which culminates in an iOS/Android Native app. Users can register, track their tolls, access live travel information, maps and more. This means you no longer need an EZ Pass to use the toll roads, and the best information is always at your finger-tips.

The app has been in use and we have built a few marketing videos for them too.

Every family has experienced it: A family member, friend or neighbor needs regular, ongoing help, whether it is because of failing health or other complications, and everybody is happy to assist. But coordination is tough, as is scheduling, keeping centralized notes and all being on the same page. That is where Kincare comes in.

Identity

First steps were a branding and identity package that hit on Kincare’s message or simplicity, caregiving, and love.

User Stories

Each member of the team contributed to a set of one-page user stories representing use cases of the app we were going to build. The idea was to think of as many as possible: some care recipients may be young, some elderly, different genders, varying levels of self-capability, varying reasons for care, different types of caregivers: professional, related, friends or neighbors. We gave them names and faces to help humanize them. We then used these user stories to help identify rules for the app. “We can’t do that unless we provide this alternative for Marilyn” or “Why don’t we make that more general so it still means something to Antoine, too”. This helped us build an app that could cover many different types of care.

User Flows

Once we had a good idea of what the app should do, we generated user scenarios and flows. Scenarios helped us map out how users related to one another in the app and what they should be able to do and see. In user flows, we laid out the step by step process of how a user would accomplish a task, iterating over time to make tasks as simple yet secure as possible.

Data Schema & HIPAA

Now that we knew how the app should perform tasks, our dev team planned out the data schema for how to store the information that was collected. Because we were handling private medical information, we had to also plan our server structure to ensure secure HIPAA Compliance. We separated data from user interfaces and encrypted information sent securely over an SSL connection.

Design and Development

We worked on several iterations of wireframes, designs, and rounds of app development. We wanted to leverage iOS features such as accessing contacts to add people to your Kincare network, utilizing long-press and hard-press for management of tasks, touch ID, photo uploads for instructional use as well as profiles, autocomplete features to save the user typing time, event management – including repeating events, as well as a printable history of the caregiving events, prescriptions, appointments, doctors etc.

Built as a native iOS app with a complementary web app, the Kincare system allows the primary caregiver to set up circles of care, with different roles, responsibilities and tasks assigned to each participant. Users can log medication used, add photos or other notes, and ensure that their loved one is getting the best possible attention and care from people they know, at home.  

Every year tens of thousands of building and land environmental reports are created to answer specific questions or facilitate sales and other transactions. In the past, these reports existed on paper and were cast away after they were consumed, meaning that the next owner would have to start from scratch: losing the knowledge and context, as well as continuity, that the previous reports could provide.

Ignition72 worked closely with the NESAD team to create a custom system and process that would interconnect environmental assessment companies around the country. The System: A massive database of reports that is searchable using Google Maps (address, lat/long, etc) to determine whether any existing reports exist, what type etc. Integrated into the mapping system is the ability to order updated or even new reports from the environmental teams who know the site, have the equity and the experience.

Ignition72 worked closely with the NESAD team to create a custom system and process that would interconnect environmental assessment companies around the country.

The Houston Independent School District has many websites, including one for each school. These thousands of pages exist within a fixed and rigid template, ensuring that all schools operate on an even field, with the same tools and resources. While this works for the overwhelming majority of HISD’s needs, District wide programs like the Continuing & Technical Education program (CTE) do not fit into the same template as a high school.

HISD met with the Ignition72 Strategy team, and we planned a best practice WordPress deployment, utilizing custom themes to showcase the incredible projects, situations and opportunities the HISD CTE Program represents. CTE Staff were trained to manage and control the site, making their online presence aspirational, nimble and focused.

It worked so well the rest of the district is jealous and making them take down the site!

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Ignition72 created a whole new look for this client, an established business moving to a new location in a stylish, creative neighborhood.

The old website was very visual, but it wasn’t optimized for mobile nor was it very flexible with new content. The new site showcases the vivid images well, and gives the client flexibility to display to either a hand made video, a static image, or a slideshow on the home page.

The simple navigation quickly leads customers into the content, and the online store is a new feature that’s generating a lot of buzz.

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