The Columbus Downtown Development Corporation has historically run two distinct websites. The CDDC site focused on businesses and development, while the Downtown Columbus site was targeted at residents and visitors. This separation of the city’s urban development projects and its popular attractions sometimes led to residents, guests, and investors missing out on exciting parts of downtown Columbus- even those in their own backyards.
The CDDC approached us with the intent to streamline and combine these two sites into a single site and align with their new brand, Downtown Columbus, Inc. This would encompass the best of both sites while simplifying the parts that made posting and navigating difficult to manage.
Our team worked extensively with Downtown Columbus, Inc. staff to determine what was working for them on their current sites and what they wanted to improve. This involved multiple interviews, reviews of comparable downtown sites, and a lot of collaboration. One of the pain points that Downtown Columbus, Inc. expressed was that the categories and listing options they used previously did not always accurately represent the city’s offerings. Together, we evaluated every listing type and category to re-arrange the content.
With a redesign of this magnitude, our team used Figma to plan for an optimal user experience. This allowed us to visualize where each page would go, and how to arrange menus intuitively for the users.
The new Downtown Columbus, Inc. website offers businesses, residents, and tourists a clear view of the city’s most exciting prospects and projects. Users can explore the city by type of experience, or check out the highlights of any Downtown Columbus district to make the most of their stay. The new listing types make it easier for staff to post, and, consequently, for community members to find information.
Staff no longer have to manage two sites, so they have more time to work on other projects. As a result of combining websites, the development side of the organization is no longer separated from their consumer base. The layout of this fresh, integrated website combines work and play in the downtown area, truly living up to the mission of Downtown Columbus, Inc.
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