All work
Case study 02Information architecture
One iCS site for two very different users
iCS, an EV charging company in the CEF group, needed one website for installers and potential customers. Usability testing showed customers could barely find an installer, so I recommended reorganising the pages by audience.
- moderated usability sessions
- 18
The challenge
The iCS website had to serve two groups. Installers need technical detail. Potential customers need clear, concise information. The client also wanted to promote a newly launched charger-management app, and adapt to changes in the EV space, particularly battery storage.
What I did
- I ran 18 moderated usability sessions on the existing site: six each with installers, residential customers who owned electric vehicles, and commercial customers.
- From these I mapped an ideal journey for each audience. Installers register as an installer, find the information they need and research products.
- Customers find a local installer, who then orders the charger. Nobody buys directly on the site.
What I found
- The installer finder was hard to use and also almost impossible to find. It sat at the bottom of a page that looked like it was for installers, not customers.
- Users found the different pages on the site too broad and struggled to find more specific information.
- Stakeholders thought the homepage video was outdated, but users liked it. It showed what the site was for straight away.
- The content had to balance technical detail for installers with clear, concise information for customers.
What changed
- I recommended reorganising the pages by audience. "Find an installer" would sit by itself, and installer information would be only for installers.
- I worked with the designer to create a simpler installer search. We validated it with a smaller round of testing at the end of the project.
- The team kept the homepage video. That saved the cost of a new video. It also avoided a placeholder image that wouldn't have shown what the site was for.
- The new structure meant pages were more specific without an overwhelming amount of detail. Users could find what they were looking for at a glance.
Want to talk about this study? Email me or download my CV (PDF).