Mark Goodner, TMCEC General Counsel and Director of Education, sat down with Regan Metteauer, TMCEC Deputy Director, and Patty Thamez, TMCEC Information Technology & Operations Specialist, to discuss TMCEC’s new website design.
MG: March 1, 2021 marked the unveiling of TMCEC’s new website. I love the new look and organization of it, and I’ve heard nothing but rave reviews from our constituents. I know both of you spent a lot of time and energy making this happen, Regan and Patty. Can you tell us about the process? What were the primary goals for the redesign?
RM: The primary goal was efficiency. We wanted users to be able to find what they are looking for in as few clicks as possible. Less truly is more. The old website had useful information mixed with dated, less useful information. After all, TMCEC’s website has served as a repository for resources for a long time. So much of the process was filtering the most useful information and organizing it in a user-friendly way. Don’t worry. Nothing was lost. Some information just found a new home.
Part of the process resembled shopping at a home improvement store. Choosing colors reminded me of examining paint color swatches. For any font-aficionados, much time was spent selecting EB Garamond and Roboto.
PT: The process was complex on many levels. As a team we wanted something fresh, easy to use, and still informative. We have a lot of useful information on our website that many rely on daily. One of the primary goals was to help our constituents find that information efficiently.
MG: It looks so great, and I’ve noticed a very streamlined look and feel to it. Are there any new features of the site that you’d like to highlight?
PT: What to highlight—the entire site is fresh and new!! The announcement section allows you to see the latest news at TMCEC quickly. You can browse and expand an area of interest. We also added an index feature to The Recorder; you can now search for articles by topic, month, or year.
RM: New features include large buttons with icons for key website pages, tabs for each constituent type (Judge, Clerk/Court Administrator, Prosecutor, Juvenile Case Manager, and Court Security Officer), TMCEC’s new logo, and more images including a new slideshow. We also reduced the amount of content on the homepage so that important information doesn’t get lost. Users should be able to quickly see where they want to go and how to get there.
MG: I know our website had (and still has) an incredible amount of content. What was the biggest challenge in this monumental undertaking?
RM: It was like cleaning out your garage. You find things that spark fond memories, things you never knew were there, things you don’t want to let go of, and things you wish you never had. The biggest challenge was the volume itself and making hard decisions on what to keep and the best place for it. However, we had a great team who worked diligently. Like cleaning the garage, it will be an ongoing endeavor. As I said before, nothing was truly thrown away. Some documents just went into the archives.
PT: Organization and simplification of the old website was a big undertaking. The final product reflects the dedication to that goal. I am grateful to all who had a hand in the process. Special thanks to my co-workers at TMCEC and the team at Pallasart.
MG: Thank you both for telling us about the new website’s features as well as the process involved in redesigning it.
TMCEC’s website is still accessed at the same address: www.tmcec.com. Please check it out!
Full Court Press 