Welcome to our new website
When we decided to update our website, we knew exactly who we needed to speak to – you. The people who use Connexions.
The first thing was to see what needed changing about the old website. We got our Youth Development Volunteers (YDVs) on the case and they found it wasn’t very easy to find their way around the site. They didn’t think it was clear how to get in touch with Connexions or find out where our Connexions Centres are. They said they wanted to see easy to read buttons that linked through to useful tools like course searches and job searches.
When it came to the content of the website they thought it was too long-winded. They wanted straightforward information and advice on the things that matter to them – presented in a user-friendly way.
All this feedback on our old website was great. We took it away and started building on it. We met with some of our Personal Advisers to get their take – after all they work with you all the time. We got a plan together for what we thought should go on a new website – and how it should work. We met with the YDVs again to see what they made of it all. They liked it – so we built a mock-up.
This gave people to chance to see it all on screen. We sent this out to all our YDVs, a group of parents and carers who said they wanted to help us develop our services and to all our highly qualified staff. We also took print-out of the prototype around schools and colleges in Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent, to nearly 200 students, to see what they thought of it.
We got some great feedback and we were able to take it all, have a good look through and start building our brand new website.
The next thing we needed was pictures – what kind of images would give our new website a real lift and make it appeal to young people? We talked to our YDVs and they were all keen on having a mix of photos of real local young people from the area along with bright and exciting cartoons.
We were really lucky that one of our YDVs, Matt, a talented young artist, was keen to help us out. Matt worked with us to create a range of eight characters that represent the diverse range of young people in Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent.
We took his pictures out on the road to see what other young people made of them. They really loved them – giving them an excellent rating. You can check out Matt’s pictures in the gallery on the right and you’ll see them on the banners and adverts throughout the site.
So here is the brand-new website – welcome! The content has all been written by our Marketing & Resources team and reviewed by our expert advisers, so you can be sure that our website will give you up-to-date and useful information and advice. We’ve also totally updated the way that you find your way around the website – we’re sure you’ll find it much easier.
We’ve got some great new features on the website too. You can change the background colour if it makes it easier for you to read the text and you can ‘listen to this page’ using a program which will read the page out loud for you.
But it doesn’t end here – we’ve still got loads of ideas for the website and we want to hear yours too. You can let us know your thoughts by getting in touch however you prefer.
We want to thank all of you who helped us out with this. You know who you are!
We hope you like the new site and find it really useful, now and in the future – don’t forget to add us to your favourites!
Read the full consultation report.
