Australian Antarctic Division

The Challenge

The existing Australian Antarctic Vision (AAD) websites were an example of academic/research sites that started using web technology very early. They then grew organically resulting in rich content on their websites spread all over the place.

The content is technical and often very detailed in nature. The complexity of the information storage and the resulting site interfaces required AAD to undertake a full Internet and Intranet review and redevelopment.

The organisational trade off for being an early adopter was the lack of developed quality assurance processes; the website contained masses of out-of-date or inappropriate content due to lack of content archiving or expiry mechanisms. Additionally, content grew amorphously in independent silos, with no consideration for a user centric perspective of providing targeted content to user information needs. Most significantly, little time had been spent to provide effective navigation and design for the public website, resulting in a confused and alienating user experience.

The Solution

Via a series of interviews, analysis and information audit workshops to develop and promote a user centric design, navigation model and interactive experience for all audiences.

This helped to provide a foundation for change management and understanding of the necessary cultural shifts within the organisation, which allowed AAD to progressively move forward with the web technology solution.

To establish a visual communication strategy driven by their core mission statement, 'Antarctica: Valued, Protected, Understood', the designs needed to assist in the definition of the AAD brand and to create a sense of wonder and discovery from both an educational/historical and a research/science point of view.

For More Information

Contact Peter Harris, Account Manager, Victoria