Scottish Parliament

Website Redesign + Petitions Service (Research to IA to Prototype)

Client / Sector: Scottish Parliament — Government / public services
My role: UX Research + Information Architecture (IA) + Prototyping (Axure)
Phase: Redesign and new feature/service introduction (petitions)

Problem

The Scottish Parliament wanted to redesign its website and introduce a new petitions capability, enabling the public to submit petitions. The site also needed to better serve distinct audiences including schools, MSPs (Members of the Scottish Parliament), and internal departments.

What I did

  • Conducted user research with key audience groups:
    • Schools (education users)
    • MSPs
    • Multiple internal Scottish Parliament departments
  • Identified and synthesised different needs, terminology, and goals across these groups to inform structure and content priorities.
  • Led information architecture and navigation work through multiple rounds of card sorting to validate labels and grouping:
    • ran several rounds (open/closed not specified)
    • used findings to refine navigation and structure iteratively
  • Built an interactive Axure prototype representing the redesigned website and petitions journey.
  • Conducted usability testing on the prototype to validate findability and the petitions submission experience, and iterated based on findings.

Key decisions / considerations

  • Designed navigation to work for multiple audiences with very different mental models (public/schools vs MSPs vs internal departments).
  • Used repeated card sorting to reduce subjective debate and anchor IA decisions in user evidence.
  • Ensured the petitions experience was clear and usable within the broader site structure.

Outputs

  • Research findings and audience needs synthesis
  • Card sort results informing IA and navigation design
  • Updated IA / navigation structure based on iterative evidence
  • Axure prototype (website + petitions journey)
  • Usability testing findings and iteration recommendations

Outcome

Delivered an evidence-led redesign direction supported by user research, card sorting, and prototype testing—resulting in a validated IA/navigation approach and a usable petitions submission experience (prototype-tested).

Methods / Tools

User research sessions; synthesis; card sorting; information architecture; Axure prototyping; usability testing.