Woking Borough Council

Creating a connected, user-centred digital experience with LocalGov Drupal

Project overview

Co-producing a simpler, more accessible digital experience that residents choose to use

Woking Borough Council partnered with Invuse to transform its website, rebuilding on LocalGov Drupal. Working in collaboration with Big Blue Door, we co-produced the platform alongside council stakeholders and residents, ensuring the service was shaped by real user needs. This resulted in a more connected, accessible and intuitive digital experience across the council’s services.

The council recognised that its existing website was not meeting user needs, with many residents struggling to find or understand information, leading to avoidable contact through phone and email. A third of contact centre calls related to Council Tax, and 50% of housing register applications were still being completed on paper, highlighting clear opportunities to improve access and drive digital adoption.

By placing users at the centre of the design process, Invuse supported the council in creating a service that people trust, understand and choose to use. The new platform enables effective self-service, reduces failure demand and supports more efficient use of council resources.

The challenges

A thorough discovery phase with residents and staff identified key barriers to effective self-service, driving avoidable contact and increasing pressure on staff.

1. High avoidable contact

20 to 30 housing emails per day, rising to 50+ in peak periods
Multiple contact routes for the same task
18% of users visiting the site to contact the council directly
Repeat contact driven by lack of updates, confirmations or tracking

2. Complex user journeys

39% of users visit to report a problem, yet journeys were long and difficult
Multiple entry points for the same task causing confusion
36% exit rate on key forms
Users abandoning or repeating tasks due to unclear next steps

3. Content and accessibility

925+ pages with inconsistent structure and content quality
100% of audited pages had content issues
60% had accessibility or readability issues
43% of residents reported challenges using the website

4. Findability and trust in information

43% of users found it difficult to find information
27% felt search results were not relevant
26% did not trust information to be up to date or accurate
Challenging findability and outdated content reduced user trust

Designing services around user needs

Using research, data and testing, we redesigned the website to reduce avoidable contact and make key tasks easier to complete.

1. Reducing avoidable contact

Analysed 12 months of data, including 290,000+ visits and 30,000 internal searches
Identified key drivers of contact across high-demand services
Redesigned journeys to prioritise self-service over phone and email
Introduced clear guidance, confirmations and next steps

2. Simplifying user journeys

Engaged 159 residents and community members through research and testing
Collaborated with 74 staff across 20 service areas to map real user journeys
Removed duplicate entry points and streamlined key tasks
Simplified forms to reduce drop-off and improve completion

3. Improving content and accessibility

Reviewed and restructured 900+ pages of content
Rewrote content in plain English to reduce reading age
Ensured compliance with WCAG 2.2 AA accessibility standards
Improved mobile usability and removed non-accessible components

4. Improving findability and trust

Redesigned information architecture around top tasks and user needs
Improved search relevance based on real user behaviour
Ensured content is accurate, up to date and easy to understand
Introduced governance to maintain content quality over time

Proven impact

Measured improvements across key resident journeys, reducing time, simplifying access and supporting self-service.

100% user preference - All staff and residents preferred the new prototype, citing clearer layout and fewer clicks
Simplified and reduced content - 29% content reduction in word count and significant consolidation across key services
Improved task success rates - 93% for Benefits, 73% for housing applications, 67% for housing repairs
Reliable and secure platform - Consistently achieving 99.9% to 100% uptime with A+ SSL rating
Accessibility performance - 94% Silktide score and 90.7% Siteimprove score, supporting inclusive access