Navigating the complexities of maritime registration shouldn’t feel like uncharted waters—here’s how we helped the UK Ship Register transform their website into a seamless journey for every user.
SECTOR:
The Challenge
The UK Ship Register’s website was difficult to navigate, making it hard for users to find critical information. Stakeholders reported frustrations from vessel owners, seafarers, and maritime professionals who struggled with convoluted user flows. Our challenge was to simplify the journey for all user types, ensuring an intuitive experience that matched the diverse needs of the UK maritime community.
Our Approach
Collaborative Stakeholder Sessions
We initiated a series of Miro group workshops with stakeholders from across the UK Ship Register agency. These sessions were designed to uncover the pain points of the existing website and explore opportunities for improvement.
- Deep Diving Across Teams: Over several collaborative sessions, we mapped out the diverse needs of different user personas, such as commercial ship operators, leisure vessel owners, and maritime regulators.
- Open Dialogue: By fostering a collaborative environment, we ensured that every stakeholder’s voice was heard, creating a shared understanding of user priorities and frustrations.
Data-Driven Insights
We supplemented the qualitative insights from the workshops with quantitative data from:
- Google Analytics: Identifying high-traffic pages and drop-off points in the existing user flow.
- User Feedback Forms: Leveraging real user feedback to pinpoint areas where the journey broke down.
These insights helped validate the anecdotal findings from stakeholders and informed how we structured the revised journey.
Journey Mapping
Using the insights gathered, we meticulously mapped out end-to-end journeys for key user types. This included:
- Entry Points: Understanding how users arrived at the site—whether through search engines, direct links, or partner referrals—and ensuring clear entry points for each pathway.
- Key Touchpoints: Pinpointing the critical moments where users interacted with the site, such as starting a vessel registration, accessing fee information, or checking legal requirements.
- Pain Points: Highlighting where users previously encountered friction, such as buried pages or confusing language.
- Optimized Flows: Designing streamlined user flows for each persona, ensuring that users could achieve their goals in as few steps as possible.
Iterative Refinement
The journey maps evolved through several iterations as we tested assumptions and gathered feedback from stakeholders. Each iteration brought us closer to a final map that balanced user needs with organizational goals.
The Result
The new UK Ship Register website is a testament to the power of journey mapping:
- Streamlined User Flows: Clear, intuitive navigation ensures users can easily register vessels, calculate fees, or find legal guidance.
- Improved Accessibility: Critical information is now organized logically, making it accessible to all user types, whether on desktop or mobile.
- Stakeholder Satisfaction: The collaborative journey mapping process aligned stakeholders and ensured the new site met the needs of both users and the organization.
- Data-Driven Design: The insights gathered during journey mapping were directly reflected in the website, resulting in a user-first experience backed by evidence.
By focusing on the user journey from the outset, we delivered a website that simplifies complex processes, enhances accessibility, and supports the UK Ship Register’s mission of promoting the benefits of flying the UK flag.
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