Eficode updated the concept and visual appearance of the Finnish Transport Infrastructure Agency’s website

“Eficode helped us to update the concept and visual appearance of the vayla.fi website. Before publication, Eficode also ensured that the implementation complies with accessibility requirements.” -   Juha Stjärnstedt, Finnish Transport Infrastructure Agency

The Finnish Transport Infrastructure Agency produces important information for a number of stakeholders

The Finnish Transport Infrastructure Agency is responsible for developing and maintaining the state-owned road network, the railways and the waterways of Finland.

The objective set for the website update was that the vayla.fi website should serve as a clear home for content related to the development, maintenance and use of transport infrastructure. Citizens, policy-makers, service providers and other stakeholders should be able to easily find the information that they are looking for on matters that the Finnish Transport Infrastructure Agency is responsible for. Furthermore, the aim was to update the visual appearance of the website. Another important focus area was accessibility.

A concept designed in a user-centered manner in collaboration with different stakeholders

The first step of the project was to survey the needs of different stakeholders and website users. These needs then served as the basis for building a concept for the content, structure and key functionalities of the new vayla.fi website.

One of the most important functions of the vayla.fi website is to offer up-to-date information on the state’s transport infrastructure projects, which are planned and implemented concurrently by both the Finnish Transport Infrastructure Agency and ELY Centers. As such, one of the focus areas of the update was improving the findability of project information. After all, it is important for citizens and the stakeholders of the Finnish Transport Infrastructure Agency to be able to find information on infrastructure projects that impact them, how projects are progressing and when they can influence project planning.

In terms of content, the main design challenge was the various user groups of the website, all of whom approach the information produced by the Finnish Transport Infrastructure Agency from different perspectives and with different needs. With this in mind, the aim was for the website to support multiple ways of finding relevant content. Furthermore, the website was to guide visitors to other services if the information or service that they were looking for was not the responsibility of the Finnish Transport Infrastructure Agency. After all, citizens, in particular, cannot be expected to be familiar with the areas of responsibility of different government agencies.

Eficode carried out the design project in a user-centered manner in collaboration with the Finnish Transport Infrastructure Agency’s various stakeholders and website users. The concept and design ideas were illustrated and validated with a prototype.

The website was provided with a new visual appearance

The visual appearance of the new website needed to be clear and fresh, among other things. Another important aspect that had to be considered was accessibility.

Design ideas were bounced back and forth with the Finnish Transport Infrastructure Agency’s project team. Once a vision for the ideal visual style was agreed upon, Eficode designed the visual appearance of the most important page templates and central elements of the site. This also included the preparation of a style guide for the implementation and administration of the website.

The concept and visual implementation were also reviewed with the vendor responsible for the technical implementation of the website so as to ensure that the update would proceed as smoothly as possible.

Eficode audited the website for accessibility and carried out a usability evaluation before publication

Once the new vayla.fi website and its content were ready, Eficode also carried out accessibility and usability evaluations on it before publication to ensure that the final implementation was of high-quality, corresponded to users’ expectations and complied with accessibility requirements.

“Eficode’s team was quick to grasp what we wanted, allowing us to develop an impressive concept and appearance for the new website.” -   Juha Stjärnstedt, Finnish Transport Infrastructure Agency