Revitalized Web Experience Helps Residents Discover Their Next Adventure

Screenshots of Parks Tacoma website in desktop view and phone view

About

Parks Tacoma is a nationally-accredited and award-winning park district in Tacoma, Washington. The system comprises 80 parks and recreation properties, 46 playgrounds, nearly 3,000 total park acres, and unique attractions including the Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium and Northwest Trek Wildlife Park.

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Problem Overview

Parks Tacoma spaces, programs and services contribute to the wellbeing of Tacoma and its citizens by facilitating spaces, programs and services that promote health and connection. However, those outcomes were stifled by a website that users found difficult to navigate and hard to access via mobile devices.

Services

Content Strategy
Design
Managed Hosting
SEO
User Experience
User Interface Design
Web Development

Data Informs Design

A huge benefit of our long-time partnership with Parks Tacoma was the amount of data we were able to use when we started this project. The data was valuable because it helped our team map out events and analyze information from the existing website. Additionally, we conducted surveys, baseline testing, and goal-setting workshops to better understand how we could improve navigation and design.

Optimizing Third-Party Integration for Mobile

One of the largest efforts of this project was integrating with ActiveNet, a third-party registration system. The existing setup was difficult to use on mobile devices and prevented users from viewing and registering for programs, costing Parks Tacoma valuable revenue. By connecting ActiveNet with WordPress, the Parks Tacoma team could manage events in a single system. Now, residents can easily view program information and then go directly to registration — from any device.

Three people kayaking in the pacific northwest.

Insights Power Updates

Was this page helpful? For Parks Tacoma, this simple question turned into powerful results. Data from Sitka Insights, our software that blends search, feedback collector, alerts and content inventory, revealed that people were struggling to find details about activities. These insights informed a simple yet powerful website update: placing Activities & Sports in the navigation at the top of the page so website visitors knew exactly where to look for the information they needed.

Screenshots of Parks Tacoma website on a tablet and mobile phone

With the amount of research that went into the website’s design and architecture, there wasn’t anyone else that came close to offering that capability. We were excited to know that the website decisions would be based on data.

Hunter George Chief Communications & Public Affairs Officer, Parks Tacoma