Helena Fernández
Miralpeix
Projects
About
Public Service UX
Information Architecture
Accessible navigation
Content structure
Interface system
Implementation logic
Confidential case
Web Ayuntamiento
Confidential public service case study · Website UX · 2023
Project Lead
Web Designer
UX/UI
Prototype
Teammate
Prototyping Designer
Web
Developer
Web Development
Web
Developer
Web Development
Graphic
Designer
Graphic Design
What began as a content-cleanup request became a broader redesign proposal for a confidential municipal website: a clearer public service experience with a more modular structure, stronger civic identity and better internal maintainability.
The work focused on information architecture, accessibility, internal maintenance logic, civic identity and a development-ready structure built with HTML, CSS and JavaScript.
Due to confidentiality, the municipality name, department details, stakeholder names and identifiable internal material have been omitted or generalized.
This case study focuses on my role, project direction, information architecture, UX/UI structure, visual direction and implementation logic.
Overview
Confidential municipal website redesign
Web Ayuntamiento is a confidential public-sector website redesign proposal focused on making municipal information easier to understand, maintain and navigate.
The project began as a request to clean up and restructure an existing website, but the analysis showed a broader opportunity: create a new modular website with clearer information architecture, stronger accessibility, fewer steps to reach key content and a visual identity connected to the city.
A public website structure for citizens and internal teams, designed around clarity, service access and maintainable content.
The proposal needed to reduce confusion while giving the institution a more coherent and scalable digital presence.
The proposal connects project management, web design, UX/UI, information architecture, creative direction and team alignment.
Audit & diagnosis:
Reviewed the existing website structure, content logic, user friction and internal maintenance issues.
Architecture:
Reorganized content into a modular, scalable structure designed around citizen needs.
System direction:
Defined reusable pages, portals, navigation logic and maintenance documentation.
Brand & visual direction:
Led a city-inspired visual system based on emblems, colors and department-level identity.
Implementation coordination:
Planned the proposal for internal HTML, CSS and JavaScript development.
- Confidential public-sector project
- Municipal website redesign proposal
- Website UX and information architecture
A redesign direction for a public website that needed clearer content, stronger structure and easier internal maintenance.
- Project direction
- Website audit
- Information architecture
- UX/UI design
- Creative direction
- Implementation logic
The scope connected civic information, citizen-facing journeys, internal maintenance needs and a modular website structure.
- Adobe XD
- Illustrator
- Photoshop
- HTML
- CSS
- JavaScript
- Trello
- Google Drive
- Notion
- Daily team reviews
I led the project and guided a small internal team across prototyping, visual direction, web development and graphic support.
Project Plan
From fragmented content to a scalable public website proposal
Turning a fragmented municipal website into a clearer digital service meant treating the redesign as a system: content architecture, maintenance logic, visual identity and implementation criteria had to work together before any interface decision could feel reliable.
The project started after a meeting with the council representative of the area, who shared concerns about citizen confusion, task abandonment, complaints and internal maintenance friction across the existing website ecosystem.
The initial request was to clean unnecessary information and restructure the current website. After analyzing the wider problem, I proposed a broader direction: a new modular website, built internally with HTML, CSS and JavaScript, supported by documentation and a more scalable public-service structure.
Project area
What I defined
Why it mattered
Content structure
Reorganized fragmented municipal information into clearer content groups, page types and navigation paths.
Helped citizens find information with less effort and gave internal teams a more logical structure to maintain.
Maintenance logic
Planned a modular website system that could be updated by future team members without losing coherence.
Reduced the risk of the website becoming fragmented again as services, priorities and ownership changed.
Visual direction
Led a civic identity approach based on city-inspired emblems, department colors and institutional consistency.
Made the proposal feel recognizable and structured without exposing confidential municipal details.
Team alignment
Coordinated daily working sessions, shared decisions and supported teammates through web design decisions.
Kept the prototype, documentation and implementation logic aligned across UX, UI, content and development.
Website Audit
Content, usability and maintenance issues
Understanding why the existing website was failing
Before proposing a new design, I analyzed how the existing website worked in practice: how information was structured, how portals were connected, how content was maintained and where users were likely to get lost.
The audit showed that the main problem was systemic. The website was not only outdated visually; it lacked a coherent content architecture, consistent tone, scalable maintenance logic and a clear navigation model for citizens and internal teams.
Information Architecture
Modular, scalable and citizen-oriented structure
Rebuilding the website around citizen needs
One of my main responsibilities was to analyze the existing content and turn it into a cleaner, modular and scalable information architecture.
The new structure was designed to reduce friction, make key information easier to reach and allow future content changes without breaking the logic of the website.
Visual Direction
A civic identity connected to the city
Giving the website a recognizable institutional identity
The redesign also needed to give the website more personality and institutional coherence. I led the creative direction by translating iconic city structures into visual emblems for departments and areas.
Each area was associated with a visual symbol and color system, helping the website feel more recognizable, structured and connected to the historical identity of the city it represented.
Team Process
Coordination, training and daily alignment
Leading the project from proposal to prototype
I coordinated and guided the project internally, helping structure the work and supporting teammates who had not previously designed websites.
We worked through daily alignment sessions to review decisions, distribute tasks and keep the proposal coherent across content, UX, visual direction and development logic.
The project moved from initial proposal to approved direction in a short timeframe. After the first presentation, the idea received approval to continue and was developed further over the following weeks.
Outcome
Approved direction and prototype presentation
A proposal that turned internal frustration into a shared direction
The final proposal and prototype were presented to the council representative, the IT team lead and an internal transparency stakeholder. The direction was positively received, especially the new structure, visual identity and the idea of building a more maintainable website internally.
The project moved forward after approval, with the intention of developing the website using HTML, CSS and JavaScript instead of continuing to rely on the previous WordPress-based setup.
Although the project later depended on internal and political circumstances, the work defined a clear direction for a more accessible, maintainable and identity-driven municipal website.
Reflection
Looking back and looking forward
What this project taught us about public digital services
This project started as a content and maintenance problem, but revealed a larger challenge: the website needed to become a clearer public digital service.
The most valuable part of the process was turning a fragmented ecosystem into a more coherent structure. The work combined content audit, information architecture, accessibility criteria, visual identity and documentation for future maintenance.
It also reinforced an important idea: when a website has to be maintained by different teams over time, design decisions need to be clear, documented and easy to evolve.
In this project, the team worked on:
- restructuring a fragmented municipal website ecosystem
- simplifying access to key citizen information
- defining a modular and scalable content architecture
- applying a practical three-click navigation principle
- creating a visual identity connected to the city
- preparing documentation for future maintenance
If the project continued, the next step would be validating the structure with citizens and internal teams: testing whether people can find key information faster, whether departments can maintain content more easily and whether the system can grow without becoming fragmented again.
Further iterations could focus on accessibility testing, content governance, reusable components and documentation for future team members.
The opportunity would be to turn the website into a living digital service: easier to update, easier to understand and better connected to the city it represents.
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