Scalable, templated design for easy content updates
THDA website redesign: Enhancing UX, accessibility and content scalability
To better serve Tennesseans, the Tennessee Housing Development Agency (THDA) modernized its website and their online portal. This overhaul improved user experience, content management, easy access to housing programs, and strengthened data security.
Project overview
Exemplifi designed a modern, cohesive interface that provides users with an intuitive experience across all touchpoints.
Implemented a templated design structure for efficient content management.
Enhance website navigation through improved Information Architecture (IA).
Improve the user experience (UX) of the lender/realtor/counselor portal.
Ensure secure access to protected marketing materials.
Challenges
Inefficient content management due to lack of standardized templates.
Difficult website navigation, hindering user experience.
Poor accessibility compliance, creating barriers for users.
Complex and cumbersome access to protected resources for external users.
Need for a secure system to manage and distribute sensitive documents.
key improvements
A streamlined, templated design system for efficient content updates.
Better website navigation with improved accessibility, creating an intuitive user experience that meets industry standards
A user-friendly portal with secure, role-based access to protected materials.
An automated system for user registration, approval, and resource access.
Designed a scalable solution for future growth without major redesigns.
Discover
Exemplifi conducted research and user interviews to identify key users of the THDA website, including people seeking homeownership, rental assistance, lenders, realtors, and counselors. This helped us understand their needs and pain points. We also identified challenges in content management, navigation, and security for protected materials. Using these insights, we redesigned the website
Define
Based on the insights from the discovery phase, we focused on the core objectives: creating a flexible templated design structure to simplify content updates, improving the IA for better navigation, and developing a user-friendly portal that ensures secure, automated user registration and access based on roles.
Design
We created a system of reusable templates using ACF’s Flexible Content for easier content management, improving performance and maintainability. The aesthetic design was carefully crafted to ensure a visually appealing and cohesive experience across the site. The IA was restructured to enhance usability, making content easily accessible. We also redesigned the lender, realtor, and counselor portals, ensuring secure, role-based access.
Project impact
Explore
Unique Solutions That We Designed For This Client
We used ACF flexible content to create a system of reusable components, allowing THDA to build pages dynamically and maintain a consistent design. This provided a balance of flexibility and standardization
We redesigned how external users access the system to make it both safe and easy to use. The new process uses Gravity Forms for registration, sends automatic email confirmations, and has a clear approval process that makes it easier for users while keeping sensitive materials protected.
The top navigation simplifies access to key THDA resources, enhancing visibility and usability. The mid-page navigation offers quick links to related programs within sections, improving user journeys and helping visitors efficiently find essential information.
