Merri-bek, formerly the City of Moreland, is home to some of Melbourne’s most diverse and vibrant northern suburbs, spanning from Fitzroy North through Brunswick, Coburg and Pascoe Vale to parts of Tullamarine. With a population of more than 180,000, it represents a broad and dynamic community.
Merri-bek is located on Wurundjeri Country, the traditional lands of the Woi wurrung people.
For local residents, the website plays a central role in accessing council services, programs and information. With more than 800,000 users and 3.5 million page views in a year, it had become a critical platform.
After eight years without significant updates, it was time for a refresh.
A modern digital platform
The project focused on creating a website that meets current standards, improves the online experience and reflects the Council as a modern, accessible organisation.
The process began with research into comparable platforms and a review of the existing site, assessing its information architecture, content and interface design.
Building an understanding of the existing site, its strengths and limitations, alongside relevant external references, helped define a clear direction for the new experience.
A design strategy workshop brought stakeholders together to review research and information architecture recommendations, aligning on a path forward.
Early design exploration included a draft style guide and initial templates, with feedback informing subsequent iterations and refinement.
A flexible template system
A modular approach underpins the site, allowing a wide range of content types to be delivered with clarity and consistency.
Rather than designing each page individually, a set of considered templates provides the structure needed to scale the experience, while remaining adaptable to different content and use cases.
The result is a more efficient system for content management and a seamless experience for users as they move through the site.
From design to delivery
Following refinement, a digital style guide was developed, alongside a complete set of components to support full page builds.
Quality assurance and accessibility testing ensured the system performed reliably across use cases.
An easy-to-use, accessible experience
The result is a clean, bright and approachable digital platform. Vivid colour, clear typography and simplified navigation help users find what they need more easily.
Accessing online services is more intuitive, supported by improved user experience design.
The platform is designed to better support a diverse community, including CALD (Culturally and Linguistically Diverse) audiences, people with disabilities and older users and meets WCAG AA accessibility standards.
