Australian Apprenticeships Pathways

The challenge

Before the launch of the new site, Integrated Information Service (IIS) had been running two websites – one positioned as a resource for students and jobseekers and the other aimed towards industry insiders. For many years these sites had run in parallel, with much duplicate content as well as a duplication of effort required to manage them. 

The sites had also grown organically over time and had become difficult to navigate – so much so that a significant portion of IIS’s time had become dedicated to simply helping people use the sites. Further, the piecemeal development of the sites had started to lead to them becoming technically unstable, and they were not responsive across different devices.

The solution

The original aim of this project was simply to give the two sites a design refresh and reconsider their information architecture. However, as the project progressed it became clear that a complete rebuild and consolidation was going to be a much more efficient approach in the longer term. The engagement began with a series of workshops to determine the broader strategy and to establish the needs and behaviours of IIS’s key target audiences. Luminary also conducted industry research and an analysis of IIS’s Google Analytics data.

One of the main requirements of this site is that it needed to be able to deal with a huge database of information – incorporating more than 3000 types of data – and deliver the appropriate information to specific user types as quickly as possible. Luminary developed a complex in-site search engine that is able to rapidly and seamlessly tailor the user journey based on a series of parameters such as user type (student, career adviser etc.), location and areas of interest. So with just a few clicks, the user is able to immediately find information that is tailored to their unique characteristics and needs. As the person navigates their way around the site, cookies record their activities and selections, further tailoring the experience so that only relevant information is presented.

The site also includes an Account Portal, where service providers can register to directly manage information about their organisation, including course details, requirements and start dates.

For students and job seekers who aren’t sure of which industries or job types might suit them, the site features a quiz-based section called Career Interest Explorer. This takes participants through a series of questions where they rate answers on a scale of 1 to 5. At the end, the system aggregates their results to give them an indication of the broad areas that they’re strongest in (e.g. Analytics and Scientific, or Artistic and Creative). This then links through to more information on jobs and courses that may be of interest. 

Print Style Sheets incorporated throughout the site also mean that information can be printed in a way that looks like a designed handout, rather than a printed website page. This reflects the fact that the site is used a lot in the field, e.g. by schools and at expos, where printed material may be required.

The result

The site was named as an Official Honoree in the prestigious Webby Awards, placing it in the top 18 percent of more than 13,000 entries received from around the globe.

Anecdotal feedback on the site has been extremely positive, both from IIS and from its broader stakeholder groups. This has been strongly supported by analytics data which provides evidence of greatly improved audience engagement, specifically a marked fall in bounce rates and increases in pages per session and average session durations. The site now displays effectively across mobile and tablet devices, which is critical given the high rate of mobile use among the student market.