San Martín redesign study

Current website diagnosis

The brand is good (blue arc, campaign’s orange asterisk “Más comunidad*”), and the content exists. The problem is the architecture: the site is organized as a communications showcase, not as a service counter.

11-slide carousel at the topAlmost no one gets past the first slide; it pushes services down and weighs down the mobile experience.
Text embedded in banner imagesScreen readers can’t read it, translate it, or index it on Google, and it’s illegible on mobile (see examples below).
Search hidden behind a magnifying glass iconOn award-winning government websites, search is the primary navigation.
18 programs in a dropdownOrganized by department; residents think in terms of their situation (“I’m a senior,” “I have a small business”).
Carousel of programs with repeated itemsChildren, Youth, and Older Adults appear 2 to 3 times on the same page.
Emergency phone numbers in the footer only, with no linkOn mobile, these should be tap-to-call buttons.
Typos and generic CTAs“novededades”; “KEEP READING” repeated 16 times in uppercase.

Eight banners from the current website, each with text embedded in the image — Real banners from the site: all the text is “baked into” the image.

What the best government websites do (2026 research)

References: GOV.UK (world standard), Colorado (Best Government Site 2026 at the WebAward), Los Angeles, Denver, Utah, NYC, Chattanooga, and Mississippi.

Search first

People arrive with a question, not to browse. A large search bar centered on the first screen.

Utah, Denver, LA, Oregon

Task, not department

Organize by “what I want to do” and “who I am,” not by the organizational chart.

Colorado, Chattanooga, Tulare

Short homepage

Only the essential paths; everything else is handled through search and subpages. Loads quickly, less tiring.

NYC, Los Angeles

Truly accessible

WCAG 2.2 AA: 4.5:1 contrast, visible focus, keyboard access, real text (not in an image), large font.

GOV.UK, Washington D.C.

Mobile-first

Designed for someone paying a fee on their phone at 11 p.m. with 20% battery left.

Shadow Digital, 2026

Purposeful imagery

Real photos of people and neighborhoods; typography as a navigation tool, not decoration.

Mississippi, Brevard, Saint Paul

Proposed visual system

It doesn’t change the brand; it elevates it. The logo’s arc becomes the divider between sections (like the wave in the Helsinki Design System) and the frame for photos; the campaign’s orange asterisk appears in only two places. One typeface family, almost no borders, plenty of breathing room.

Sky#0A8FD6 brand, search, campaign

Sky text#0667A8 links and categories

Ink#0E1B33 text and blocks

Ink 2#516074 secondary text

Fog#F3F6F9 soft backgrounds

Orange#F07F1A asterisk and focus

One family only

Hanken Grotesk

Open, humanist grotesque, legible at small sizes and with poster weight at 800. Replaces FF Clan (paid) without losing the brand’s tone.

Scale

93 / 54 / 25 / 18

Hero title, section headings, list items, and body text (18px base, 1.6 line spacing).

What the new homepage includes

Full-photo hero with searchA neighborhood street photo, a large headline, and search suggestions as you type (accents optional); if you can’t find what you need, it offers help.
Services in an editorial-style listThe 6 from the current website, each with a line explaining what it helps you do. No cards or decorative icons.
“Programs for you” in typographic formSix audiences in large type; on hover (or tap), the photo and text change. The other programs appear in a row below, with a link to all 18.
Editorial news1 large featured item and 3 headlines, all real from the site.
Campaign with real text“More community, less trash” in HTML, not baked into the image.
Help and clickable phone numbersWhatsApp, 147, service centers, and appointments; 147, 911, 107, 100, and 103 can be called with one tap.
AccessibilityLarger text and high contrast in the footer, “skip to content,” visible focus, and keyboard navigation in the program selector.

What a $10,000 project looks like

Typical agency price range for a local government website with a CMS. Reference estimate, not a quote.

Stage	Delivery	Property tax account
Discovery	Search/analytics analysis, interviews with residents, map of the 20 most common tasks	US$ 1.200
Architecture and content	New task-based navigation, with process pages rewritten in plain language	US$ 1.800
Design system	Tokens, components, homepage + 6 page templates, navigable prototype	US$ 2.500
Development	Accessible front end on top of the current CMS (Prismic), search with synonyms	US$ 3.500
Accessibility and launch	WCAG 2.2 AA audit, screen reader testing, performance, staff training	US$ 1.000

San Martín Municipality website redesign

Before and after