Project Overview
The Australian Communications and Media Authority are the government regulators of broadcasting, the internet, radiocommunications and telecommunications. Aiming to drive better engagement with the industry and the public, the ACMA approached Aer Design (their creative brand agency partner since 2009) to help. With a myriad of communication platforms already in use by the ACMA and masses of diverse content, a digital strategy to deliver these in a ‘discovery’ content model with simple sharing features was developed.
Project Commissioner
Australian Communication & Media Authority, media.comms
Project Creator
Team
Creative Director: Jenny McLaren
Digital Director: Sarah McArthur
Programmers: Reading Room
Project Brief
The ACMA was forward thinking and open in their brief. “Design and build a website” did not really capture it. “Design and build a intuitive digital platform for various types of users and engagement” was more accurate. Users who wish to take a journey through the ACMA paralleled with users who visit regularly and want to easily find specific information quickly. We had to understand how engagement worked for all users and integrate various platforms where the ACMA already had voice.
The ACMA had been thinking deeply about their content and surfaced clear structural divisions which helped inform the website architecture. Segmenting the audience; citizen, industry and the authority itself gave a simple demarcation while rethinking how content was displayed opened the door to the ‘discovery’ content model.
Project Need
Working within the government accessibility guidelines, Aer Design developed a digital brand for the ACMA with a matrix to surface content. The design that was developed is a flexible grid system, which can be broken down to surface feature content, focused links or grow to encapsulate hero video content. A simple, intuitive icon system was developed which among other things exposed the user to social media interaction and conversations. The grid also allows for reconfiguration on any device increasing accessibility to content anytime, anywhere.
Aer Design’s iterative design process aided the development of functionality and improvements to the end user experience.
Design Challenge
Understanding what users were doing, how they were interacting and digesting information and when they were doing it became paramount and informed many of the design decisions. The design challenge was two-fold. Finding a balance between a discovery user experience as well as surfacing relevant content in a coherent way.
Meeting web accessibility guidelines set by the federal government also proved a challenge when colour played an integral role in segmenting and categorising content. The design of the ‘smart search’ feature became an integral feature for the digital platform. Users can customise and segment their search criteria allowing relevant content to be surfaced.
Sustainability
At Aer Design, we believe sustainability inspires innovation. Walking the talk, we are constantly improving our own sustainable practices to ensure we create, operate and deliver in a sustainable way. This project was no exception. From working with our client both locally and interstate, we used video conferencing wherever possible to reduce carbon miles, to using low energy lights.
The project outcome means greater efficiency for users to access content from the ACMA. Meeting online accessibility standards means content is very easily digested on screen, reducing the need to print and shift towards a more paperless environment.
Tags
Digital Experience - Website
This award celebrates innovation and creativity in design of a unique user experience in the combination of text, audio, still images, animation, video, and interactivity content for websites. Consideration given to clarity of communication and the matching information style to audience.
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