The ISC is a branch of the Canadian Government website that specifically deals with Indigenous services. While their design does prioritize function over form, the layout and architecture could be more effective in serving its users.

Uses struggle finding the information they need on the Indigenous Services Canada website, which leaves them confused and unable to access the resources they require.

Create a more concise navigational experience that helps users sort through information  quickly and effectively to find what they need.

Having used the Canadian Government website in the past, I noticed that the process of searching for the appropriate documentation was tedious and overwhelming. At times I even felt unsure if I was looking at the right information.

After browsing various branches of the government I came across the ISC. As I was doing background research on the Indigenous population of Canada I learned about many of the misfortunes the native population lives through, especially on the outskirts of the country. From food shortages, lack of basic amenities, and sub-par access to education, these often small native villages undergo a lot of hardships.

While clicking around the ISC website, I realized there is an abundance of help in the form of subsidies and programs that the Canadian Government offers. Much like the rest of the website however, navigating that information was equally overwhelming and confusing.

While there is no quick and easy solution to many of these problems, I did begin to wonder if the website’s intimidating nature prevents people from accessing what they need, or even prevents them from knowing about many of the benefits available.

Thus I decided to dive deeper into the ISC.

Upon further browsing on the ISC website, I realized that to be eligibile for many of the programs, one would first need to officially be of Indian Status.

Additionally, I felt that part of the confusion in navigating the website was the large amount of seemingly unrelated links. In order to design a clearer layout, I felt there needed to be a focal point from which all information would stem from.

With that in mind I first designed a usability test to get an idea of users’ navigational experiences on the ISC website. The end goal was very specific, however users were free to take any path they saw fit to get there. This way I could gain better insight on their thought process and potential pain points along the way.

Similar to my own experience users generally felt overwhelmed by the amount of text, lack of visual breakup and inability to sort through information efficiently.

I analyzed the pages relevant to the tasks at hand, starting with the homepage, to pin point opportunities for improvement. I was specifically looking to reduce the amount of links in each cluster, while keeping most of the categories present.

I analyzed the pages relevant to the tasks at hand, starting with the homepage, to pin point opportunities for improvement. I was specifically looking to reduce the amount of links in each cluster, while keeping most of the categories present.

While each research method provided varied perspectives on the navigational issues at hand, a few key problems recurred:

1. Overwhelming amount of text
2. Confusing titles and descriptions
3. Lack of visuals and visual breakup

While each research method provided varied perspectives on the navigational issues at hand, a few key problems recurred:

1. Overwhelming amount of text
2. Confusing titles and descriptions
3. Lack of visuals and visual breakup

I redesigned the main navigation to include main pages for increased accesibility. Additionally, users often used the search bar during the usability tests, thus I made the search bar in my redesign more prevalent for quicker access. Lastly, using a big hero page allowed me to include the site’s mission and background visuals to create a clearer and more welcoming experience.

The layout below was utilized by both the Indian Status and ISC Forms section. I designed this to visually include more links, while also implementing indigenous artwork in the back to further distinguish this site from other parts of the Canadian government website.

The original site had a very simple color palette with excellent color contrast. For this reason, I wanted to keep the pre-existing colors, however I added a few more complimentary colors to diversify UI elements where needed.

Users found the new architecture much easier and more enjoyable to navigate. The task success rate was improved dramatically. That being said, a few users were still unable to find the information relevant to the first task. While some struggled with the wording of the task at hand, some simply could not find the correct path. This lead me to believe the the titles could be further clarified.

While having a focused approach towards Indian Status and related benefits allowed me to make clearer and more concise design decision, fitting all of the information in this template became increasingly challenging to maintain design consistency across the website. Upon further iterations I would consider other Canadian government websites, and how those links and elements would be implemented in my design to maintain more homogeny with other pages of the website.