The Judicial Commission of New South Wales approached us to reimagine their public website with a fresh, modern design that would enhance user experience and simplify the site’s navigation. A key goal was to streamline access to information and reduce the need for email and phone inquiries, enabling the Commission to serve the community with a clear, user-friendly platform.
Our mission was multi-layered: aligning the needs of various stakeholders, rethinking the site’s structure to enhance accessibility, and designing an intuitive user journey. This was a project where a strategic UX overhaul was just as essential as the visual update; it was about strengthening the connection between the Commission and the community it serves.
The User Interface (UI) and User Experience (UX) phase is a key part of the project, where visually engaging design meets seamless functionality to deliver an impactful website.
We kicked off with a series of interactive discovery workshops to uncover business goals, audience insights, and pain points, ensuring alignment among stakeholders and setting a solid strategic foundation. From these sessions, we built a strategic vision deck, which outlined business, design and technologic objectives and mapped user personas, guiding our approach throughout the project.
Next, we developed task flows, user journeys, and a cohesive information architecture. Our team mapped the sitemap, designed wireframes, and explored various design directions to bring the Commission’s ethos to life with a fresh digital aesthetic. Throughout the UX and UI phases, we held weekly progress meetings with the Judicial Commission team to discuss updates, questions, and ensure alignment at every stage.
The design objectives were to create an approachable and timeless interface with a contemporary and clean aesthetic, all while conveying a strong brand statement. The UI was crafted to enable users to quickly understand the Judicial Commission’s core work, ethos, and key services, and to easily access resources such as bench books, educational monographs, law codes, and JIRS.
To deliver a high-performance website, we adopted a headless approach, combining Drupal as the CMS backend with Next.js for the frontend. This modern setup leverages server-side rendering and static generation, ensuring exceptional speed, scalability, and seamless content delivery across platforms.
Drupal, renowned for its robust content management capabilities and status as the CMS of choice for the Australian Government, served as the foundation. Paired with Next.js, this integration offered a workflow that seamlessly balanced power and simplicity.
To meet the Judicial Commission's specific needs, we customised the Drupal backend with tailored features such as an integrated link checker, bespoke approval workflows, a changes revision tracker, and additional functionalities designed to address their unique requirements. This combination of cutting-edge technologies and bespoke CMS features ensured the website delivered exceptional performance in both user experience and search engine rankings. With built-in SEO optimisation and a modular structure, Next.js provides a future-proof, flexible solution that is easy to update.
After development, we conducted rigorous internal User Acceptance Testing (UAT). The Judicial Commission team then carried out their own in-depth review to confirm the site met all expectations. Once validated, we ensured the website was in full compliance with WCAG Accessibility Standards and that it successfully passed a Penetration test to guarantee optimal security before launching successfully.
Delivered within budget and on schedule, the revamped website has garnered very positive feedback from both the client and its users. The streamlined structure and interactive features, such as the complaint eligibility checker tool, have led to a noticeable reduction in unnecessary phone and email inquiries, allowing the Commission’s team to focus on their mission. The contact form has significantly improved inquiry triage by prompting users to select a relevant topic, encouraging them to think carefully before submitting which has resulted in inquiries of much higher quality and relevance than before. Other government agencies using the Judicial Commission website also noted the ease of finding the information they need, eliminating the previous need to call for assistance.
The new site not only strengthens the brand’s digital presence, improved the user experience and reduces administrative tasks but has also increased JIRS portal subscribers, setting the stage for future growth.
Read the Judicial Commission of New South Wale project review of their experience with us on Clutch
The Judicial Commission of New South Wales partnered with us to redesign their website for a modern, accessible, and user-friendly experience that reduces the internal team’s administrative tasks.