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Client Strategy Project

ConnectSTL Website Strategy & Digital Experience Assessment

Evaluating how a citywide digital inclusion platform serves residents, ecosystem partners, and coalition stakeholders across UX, content, and functionality.

Client
ConnectSTL / St. Louis Development Corporation
Role
Digital Marketing Strategist • Web Strategy & UX
Focus
UX • Content • Functionality • Accessibility • Information Architecture
Strategic Value
$4K+ Delivered
View PortfolioVisit ConnectSTL
02The Challenge

A digital inclusion portal has to do more than communicate. It has to connect people to opportunity.

ConnectSTL supports St. Louis’s digital inclusion ecosystem by connecting residents to technology resources, training, internet access, service providers, community programs, and coalition initiatives.

The assessment needed to determine how effectively the platform served three important audiences.

  • St. Louis residents
  • Ecosystem partners
  • The ConnectSTL coalition

The project was evaluated through three primary lenses.

Design / UsabilityContentFunctionality

Rather than treating the project as a cosmetic redesign exercise, I first evaluated how effectively the portal translated the goals of the St. Louis Digital Inclusion Action Plan into usable digital experiences.

Better UX here can translate into better access to actual opportunities.

03Strategic Context

Start with the mission before judging the interface.

ConnectSTL functions as more than a communications website.

The portal supports a broader digital inclusion strategy involving resource discovery, internet access, digital literacy, technology assistance, community organizations, service providers, coalition participation, and public impact reporting.

That meant the website could not be evaluated only by asking whether individual pages looked modern.

The more useful question

How effectively does ConnectSTL translate its digital inclusion strategy into a usable experience for the people and organizations it serves?

Strategy to experience

Digital Inclusion Strategy
ConnectSTL Portal
Resources + Programs + Partners + Community Access
04Audience Framework

Three audiences. Three different jobs to be done.

Selecting an audience highlights the matching row in the evaluation model below.

05Evaluation Model

The portal was evaluated by audience, not just by page.

Residents

Design / Usability
Can I recognize the right path quickly?
Content
Can I understand the help, eligibility, and next step?
Functionality
Can I successfully find or access help?

Ecosystem Partners

Design / Usability
Can I identify the right participation pathway?
Content
Can I understand the roles and expectations?
Functionality
Can I join, contribute, collaborate, or maintain information?

ConnectSTL Coalition

Design / Usability
Is activity and information organized coherently?
Content
Does the site communicate purpose and progress clearly?
Functionality
Does the portal support coordination, visibility, and measurement?

Cross-cutting considerations

Accessibility • Mobile usability • Plain language • Search discoverability • Measurement • Content governance

06My Approach

Evidence before recommendations.

  1. Strategic Context
  2. Audience Needs
  3. Journey Testing
  4. Evidence
  5. Findings
  6. Recommendations
  7. Prioritization
  8. Roadmap

I began by reviewing the Digital Inclusion Action Plan, coalition materials, current programs, public impact reporting, and the live ConnectSTL portal.

I then evaluated representative resident, partner, and coalition journeys across the areas listed here.

Recommendations were tied to observable evidence and organized by priority and implementation effort rather than presented as an undifferentiated list of design opinions.

Reviewed across

  • Navigation
  • Information architecture
  • Program discovery
  • Terminology
  • Eligibility communication
  • Forms
  • Service pathways
  • Content quality
  • Mobile usability
  • Accessibility
  • Website performance
  • Search discoverability
  • Public impact reporting
07What Was Already Working

A useful assessment should identify what not to redesign.

01

Mission alignment

The platform already functions as meaningful digital inclusion infrastructure rather than simply publishing organizational information.

02

Outcome-focused program copy

Patterns that translate programs into practical outcomes.

  • “How this program helps”
  • “Best for”
  • “Who this is for”
03

Accessibility baseline

The tested mobile homepage received a Lighthouse Accessibility score of 100.

An automated Lighthouse mobile accessibility score. This is not a claim of full WCAG compliance.

04

Public impact reporting

ConnectSTL already communicates activity across programs, learning, support, Wi-Fi, and portal usage.

The goal was not to redesign everything. The goal was to preserve what reduced friction and improve what created it.

08Selected Findings

The strongest opportunities were about clarity and journey design, not aesthetics alone.

Select a finding to review the evidence, why it matters, and the recommendation.

ImpactHigh
EffortMedium

Finding

The persistent navigation primarily reflected organizational structures such as Events, Members, Service Providers, and About Us rather than common resident goals such as finding Wi-Fi, getting technology help, or building digital skills.

Why it matters

Residents typically arrive with a need, not knowledge of the ConnectSTL organizational structure.

Recommendation

Introduce clearer resident-first pathways while preserving the coalition and partner navigation structure.

Potential direction

ResidentsFind Wi-FiGet Technology HelpExplore Programs & Training
ImpactHigh
EffortMedium
ImpactHigh
EffortLow
ImpactHigh
EffortLow
ImpactHigh
EffortLow
ImpactHigh
EffortMedium
09Public Directory Transparency

Clearer consent around public membership visibility.

The membership registration experience included a preselected option allowing a profile to appear in the public ConnectSTL membership directory. The assessment did not assume which exact profile fields were publicly exposed. The usability concern was transparency.

Transparency / Consent Clarity

Recommendation

Clearly explain what information becomes public before registration and require an intentional, understandable choice.

10From Findings to Action

Not every recommendation deserves the same priority.

Now

Phase 01

Low effort / high confidence

  • Program copy cleanup
  • FAQ QA
  • Eligibility terminology
  • Directory disclosure
  • Impact reporting dates and definitions
  • Metadata cleanup

Recommendations were sequenced around impact, effort, evidence, and organizational feasibility.

11Client Validation

The findings were validated by the ConnectSTL team.

“A detailed and practical assessment of the ConnectSTL portal.”

“Your findings… are spot-on and actionable.”

“What is immensely useful is the phased roadmap.”

ConnectSTL TeamSt. Louis Development Corporation

Following delivery, the ConnectSTL team confirmed key findings around resident-first navigation, content quality, program eligibility language, public-directory transparency, impact reporting, mobile performance, and search discoverability.

The team also indicated that recommendations from the assessment would be considered as part of an upcoming website release focused on simplifying customer journeys.

12Project Impact

Strategy that moved from diagnosis to decision-making.

The engagement produced a comprehensive digital experience assessment connecting ConnectSTL’s website to the broader objectives of the St. Louis Digital Inclusion Action Plan.

The final recommendations gave the organization a prioritized path for improving resident discoverability, journey clarity, content governance, eligibility communication, public measurement, mobile performance, search discoverability, and long-term website maturity.

The ConnectSTL team validated the major findings, described the recommendations as actionable, highlighted the phased roadmap as especially useful, and identified recommendations for consideration within an upcoming website release.

3

Primary audiences evaluated

3

Core assessment lenses

$4K+

Strategic consulting value delivered

100

Lighthouse accessibility baseline

Automated Lighthouse mobile accessibility score. Not a claim of full WCAG conformance.

13Capabilities

Capabilities demonstrated

Digital Marketing StrategyWeb StrategyUX StrategyWebsite AuditingInformation ArchitectureUser Journey AnalysisContent StrategyPlain-Language CommunicationAccessibility ReviewMobile UsabilityWebsite PerformanceSearch DiscoverabilityMeasurement StrategyStrategic PrioritizationStakeholder Reporting
14Private Deliverable

Comprehensive Strategic Assessment

The final client deliverable included detailed evidence, prioritized findings, recommendations, success measures, implementation sequencing, and supporting research.

Full client deliverable kept private.

Shown on this page

  • Cover mockup
  • Selected recreated diagrams
  • Selected matrix
  • Selected finding-card layout
  • Roadmap visualization
Client DeliverablePrivate

ConnectSTL Website Strategy & Digital Experience Assessment

Prepared for ConnectSTL / St. Louis Development Corporation

Digital Marketing Strategist • Web Strategy & UX

Evidence
Findings
Recommendations
Roadmap

Closing

Research-led website strategy focused on what users need to accomplish.

This project demonstrates how I approach websites as business and communication systems rather than isolated visual assets. By connecting organizational goals, audience needs, user journeys, content, functionality, accessibility, performance, and measurement, the assessment created a practical roadmap for improving how ConnectSTL serves its community.

Marquan Whitelaw

Digital Marketing Strategist • Web Strategy & UX

Back to Portfolio Visit ConnectSTL