Volkswagen - Site Re-structure
In the winter of 2001 JD Power released a web site survey where the Volkswagen site was ranked 32 out of 34 sites. While not unexpected, these results highlighted the fact that usability wise the site fell short.
Challenged with the task of making the site work better without a major redesign or content change, the immediate reaction from the IA group was to present a restructuring of the current navigation system. Our goal was to provide easier access for users to information on the site.
Following a methodology known as "card sorting" in human factors circles, we first determined what names users would use for various categories. Then the existing content was sorted into it's correct category and a site map was built.
Finally a standardized navigation system was developed that operated in a standardized manner and maintained standard categories across vehicles. The new navigation system was then programmed and implemented on the VW web site.
In the fall of 2001 our efforts paid off. Our own testing and a replay of the JD Power survey showed significant increases in ease of use on the site. The overall assessment from the private testing group showed a 20% increase for ease of use and the JD Power survey showed our site rising significantly from 25 to 3 in the ease of use category.
The documents below highlight the work done to bring these improvements to fruition.
