Williamstown’s Updated Website.

I've worked for 25+ years in project management in the marketing and advertising of brands online and I have seen the common pitfall in website redesign projects play out over and over again: decision-makers focus too heavily on aesthetics—colors, photos, and flashy graphics—while neglecting the underlying information architecture and user experience.

Overall, the updated Williamstown site is functional, and includes many of the right elements (quick‐links, news feed, calendar, board info, online payments). From a usability and Information Architecture viewpoint, it performs reasonably well for residents who already know what they want.

However, from a community-engagement, user experience, and stakeholder transparency lens, there is still room to simplify navigation, clarify language, improve mobile/accessibility, and present content more oriented around user needs (residents/businesses/visitors/community partners) rather than municipal department silos.

The opportunity exists to help with findability: guide newcomers by task, translate municipal shorthand into everyday language, and make external tool jumps feel intentional. Nearby towns show that a small number of opinionated, user-centric headings can remove guesswork and help more residents participate.

What’s working

• Common tasks are visible. The homepage puts “Online Payments,” “Property Maps,” “Transfer Station,” “Meeting Packets,” “Online Permitting,” and “Calendar” right up top. For residents who already know what they need, these quick links are clutch.
• Fresh, dated updates. “News & Updates” shows timely items (e.g., South Street reconstruction, clean-electricity opt-up, CPA grants) with clear dates—exactly what people scan for.
• Calendar is active and specific. The events grid lists meetings with Zoom links, locations, and how to watch—useful transparency.

Where users stumble

• Top navigation is a grab-bag. “Menu” mixes broad categories (“Town Business,” “Boards + Committees”) with one-off destinations (“Transfer Station,” “Visiting”), and sends people to external systems (Permitting, GIS) without context. That creates decision fatigue and a “did I pick the right lane?” moment.
• Labels assume municipal fluency. Terms like “Meeting Packets” and “Transfer Station” are normal to insiders; first-timers may need plain-language cues (“Agendas & Meeting Documents,” “Trash & Recycling Drop-off”).
• Fragmented journeys. Key tasks jump to other sites (ViewPoint Cloud for permits, AxisGIS for maps, Google Sites/docs for projects). That’s fine technically, but the leap feels abrupt without an “opens in new window/what to expect” note or a consistent wrapper.

How does the site compare

• Great Barrington leads with task-oriented headings—Government, Residents, Services, How Do I…—plus shortcuts like “Agendas & Minutes,” “Pay Your Bill,” “Forms & Permits.” It’s opinionated and scannable. townofgbma.gov+2townofgb.org+2
  
• North Adams groups by Government → Departments/Offices, Boards & Commissions, Reports/Budgets, making “who does what” obvious and consistent across pages. northadams-ma.gov+1
  
• Amherst foregrounds Services/News/Calendar/Trending and “Stay Connected,” signaling actions over org chart. amherstma.gov

Recommendations to keep the momentum going

1. Rename a few high-traffic labels for plain language.
   • “Meeting Packets” → “Agendas & Meeting Documents”
   • “Transfer Station” → “Trash & Recycling (Transfer Station)”
   • Add descriptive copy under “Property Maps” (“Town GIS: parcels, zoning, etc.”).
2. Group the homepage shortcuts under a “Popular Tasks” banner. Keep the same links but present them as action buttons (“Pay a bill,” “Apply for a permit,” “View agendas,” “See town map,” “Trash & recycling,” “Full calendar”).
3. Add “You’re leaving WilliamstownMA.gov” notes on external jumps (Permitting, GIS, Google Sites) and describe what users will see there (e.g., “Create/track permit applications”).
4. Surface “Vacancies” and “How to serve” inside Boards + Committees with a clear call to action (“Apply to a board”). It’s already present, but bring it forward.

Next-level improvements

1. Reshape the global IA around user intent.
   1. Replace “Town Business” with 3–4 task-based pillars: Residents, Business & Development, Government (Boards, Meetings, Budgets), Visitors. Each pillar should contain the links now scattered across the menu. (examples of how this works townofgbma.gov+2northadams-ma.gov+2 )
      
2. Create a dedicated “Meetings” hub.
   1. One page that aggregates Calendar, Agendas & Documents, How to watch/participate, and links to board pages—so people don’t bounce between News, Calendar, and “Meeting Packets.”
3. Standardize board/committee pages.
   1. Each page should have the same layout: mission, members/terms, vacancies, upcoming meetings (auto-pulled), agenda/minutes archive, and a contact. (North Adams’ consistent department scaffolding is a good model. northadams-ma.gov
      
4. Soften the external handoffs.
   1. Where third-party tools are necessary (permitting/GIS), embed quick explainer panels and keep a consistent header/footer for brand continuity.

“Citizen paths” the site should be action based 

• “I want to speak at a meeting.” Find the meeting, read the agenda, see how to comment, watch live/recorded. (Calendar and “Meeting Packets” exist—combine them into one page that is relevant for the committee or board.)
• “I need a permit.” Create a brief “which permit do I need?” guide before the external portal, that includes typical timelines and fees.
• “Where do I take trash/recycling?” Hours, fees, stickers, holiday changes, what’s accepted—above the fold, not buried.
• “What’s happening this month?” A human-readable digest that pulls top updates (the News section is close—pair it with the month’s key meetings). Amherst and Great Barrington sites do this very well!

Final thoughts

When visual design takes precedence over usability, essential functions like navigation, search, accessibility, and content hierarchy are often overlooked, leading to confusion and frustration for visitors. The result is a site that may look modern on the surface but fails to serve its actual purpose: communicating information clearly, supporting user goals, and reflecting the organization’s credibility through thoughtful structure rather than decorative polish. A beautiful website means little if users can’t easily find what they need or understand how the site is organized. THis does not mean that a site can not be both beautiful and functional.

I'm hoping that the town site will continue to evolve. I will be checking in.