LUMi
LUMi is a web-based digital product designed to enable sharing skills and resources in Norwich.
Bigfork have been involved with LUMi since its inception in 2017, and recently helped launch version 2.
When LUMi originally debuted, it was a completely new concept. Over the last four years it has been successful in helping local communities to share assets and knowledge, supported initiatives such as the 100 day challenge, and provided useful resources throughout the 2020-21 pandemic.
However, it was time to make it work harder.
The plan
The engagement figures all showed where LUMi was working. What we couldn’t tell so easily, was where it wasn’t working.
We worked alongside Norwich City Council and the user testing team at Krow.x to test to audit and test the website. The user testing proved invaluable, key findings were:
- It wasn’t clear what LUMi did or who it was for
- User journeys weren’t obvious enough
- Some of the processes (such as registering) weren’t easy to understand
Redesigning LUMi
Using these findings, new page layouts were created to address the issues. Solutions included:
- Additional content to communicate what LUMi is, and who it’s for
- Stronger calls to action to lead users to the correct content
- More explanations throughout the website
- Improved search functionality
As well as directly addressing issues, we wanted to bring LUMi up to date with a modern, mobile-first, accessible design. Bigfork weren’t involved in the original design, so it was great for us to be able to apply our understanding of LUMi to a brand new website design and really make it shine.
User generated content
A key part of the LUMi platform is that 99% of the content is uploaded by users. This content will be things that are available to be shared, from venue hire to money management skills, or just lending out a wheelbarrow.
Adding content has to be simple for LUMi to succeed. This applies to the whole process, especially registering with the website which we discovered some people found difficult during testing.
LUMi is for everyone, and we didn’t want to exclude people based on their technical skills. So, a new “Get Involved” page provides guides on how to use LUMi, and an overhauled registration form introduced a clearer layout with explanatory content to help people get started.
Once registered, to allow LUMi’s users to easily add content, we revised the whole listing process to be more intuitive. This including a better signposting so people could navigate the website more easily, and a simpler listing form with better instructions.
We also made sure the website was designed and built to WCAG 2.1 AA accessibility guidelines to make it as inclusive as possible.
The results
Once all the redesign and development work was completed, a second round of user testing was conducted. The results were hugely positive – all the pain-points discovered in the initial testing were now gone.
The feedback from the testing also highlighted some minor improvements to be made, all of which contributed to the successful relaunch of LUMi and reinforce Norwich’s status as a sharing city.
Since its relaunch, feedback for LUMi has been glowing, users are easily navigating and interacting on the site, and registration numbers have doubled.
‘Bigfork have created a modern, welcoming, and user-friendly platform. Thanks to Bigfork, LUMi continues to grow and continues to have a positive impact on our communities!’
Want a website like this for your business?
Call Mark Ellaway on 01603 513080 or email mark@bigfork.co.uk to discuss your project.
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