7 West Cafe
A full audit and redesign of a local restaurant’s website, focused on content clarity, improved navigation, and accessibility compliance to support user experience and business goals.
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TLDR - Short n' Sweet Version
I led a full website audit and redesign for 7 West Cafe, developing a new IA, fixing SEO and accessibility issues, and creating a prioritized roadmap to improve usability, discoverability, and engagement.
Context
This project was completed as part of a Master’s-level course on Information Architecture, applying real-world IA and content strategy practices to improve an existing small business website.
The Problem
How can we enhance content structure and usability for a seamless user experience?
The Challenge
The original website featured redundant pages, inaccessible elements, broken links, and a disorganized navigation structure.
The Solution
A content-first redesign including a complete content audit, streamlined navigation, user-validated structure, and accessibility enhancements.
Research Methods
Conducted a comprehensive content inventory and audit, metadata analysis, and accessibility review; supplemented with user card sorting.
Problem Statement
The existing site structure failed to meet user expectations, resulting in confusion, limited discoverability, and accessibility violations.
Secondary Research
Applied SEO and IA best practices, WCAG 2.1 AA accessibility standards, and the Halvorson-Ranch checklist.
Context & Struggles
Redundant “Reserve a Table” pages Generic meta descriptions No alt text or image labeling Inconsistent heading hierarchy
Primary Research
9-person closed card sort to evaluate proposed navigation updates.
Key Interview Findings
Strong support for simplified menu structure Confusion between “Special Events” and “Menu” content Need for clear “Reservation” flow
User Journey Map
Created a user journey map representing the user journey.
Design Decisions
Recommendations were based on user patterns, accessibility standards, and SEO insights, resulting in clearer content categorization and improved flow.
Categorized Navigation
Unified the “Menu” into a single hub with categorized tabs (Brunch, Dessert, Specials) instead of separate navigation links.
Streamlining Pages
Streamlined the “Reservations” process by eliminating duplicate calendar pages and creating one clear booking path.
Usability Testing
Validated redesigned navigation through a closed card sort and tested early wireframes for task clarity.
Streamlining
80% of participants preferred the restructured menu and streamlined reservations.
Clarity
Users requested clearer separation between event information and regular menu.
Key Findings
Navigation improvements were confirmed as intuitive and more efficient. Minor label adjustments were made based on feedback.
Takeaways
Structure
A well-structured content audit is essential to uncover hidden usability and SEO issues.
Accessibility
Accessibility and IA go hand-in-hand to ensure inclusivity and performance.
Alignment & Structure
Small changes in structure and labeling can significantly improve user navigation and business alignment.