Objectives
Improved Navigation
Simplify the website's navigation to help users find relevant cyber security advice, resources and services more easily.
Content Discovery
Improve how users browse and search publications, alerts, advisories and guidance across a large content library.
Accessibility
Create accessible, responsive experiences that accommodate different users, devices and content requirements.
Design Consistency
Develop and refine reusable components to establish a consistent visual language across the website.
Challenges
The website contained a large amount of technical information aimed at audiences with different levels of cyber security knowledge.
Complex navigation and content structures made it difficult to surface relevant information clearly.
Publications, alerts and guidance needed to be presented in a way that supported both browsing and targeted searching.
Existing components needed to accommodate different content types, layouts and responsive behaviours.
Tight project timelines required close collaboration between design, development and content teams.
Approach
1. Navigation and Information Architecture
I worked on redesigning the website's mega menu, refining how information was grouped and presented across the primary navigation.
The focus was on making the structure easier to understand, improving the visibility of important sections and introducing clearer interaction states.
I also explored ways to highlight relevant content without overwhelming users or making the navigation unnecessarily complex.
2. Improving Content Discovery
A significant part of my work involved redesigning the Stay Secure and Access Publications and Alerts landing pages.
For publications, I explored layouts that gave appropriate prominence to different content types, including frameworks, alerts, advisories and guidance.
I also refined search and filtering patterns, content cards, metadata and responsive layouts to make it easier for users to browse large collections of information.
3. Component-Based Design
Rather than creating bespoke solutions for every page, I focused on reusing and refining components within the existing design system.
This included cards, navigation, buttons, alerts, tables, accordions, download components and content templates.
Working in Figma, I developed component variants, interaction states and responsive specifications to support consistent implementation across the website.
4. Collaboration and Responsive Refinement
Throughout the project, I worked closely with designers, developers and stakeholders to review designs, address technical constraints and refine component behaviour.
This included responding to development feedback around card layouts, breakpoints and how components should adapt within different content widths.
The focus was on maintaining the intended visual design while ensuring the solutions were practical to implement and maintain.
Solution
The redesigned experience brings together a more consistent navigation structure, improved content discovery and a flexible component-based approach.
Key design contributions included:
Mega Menu: A redesigned primary navigation system with clearer content grouping, hierarchy and interaction states.
Stay Secure: A refreshed landing page using structured content sections and responsive card layouts to guide users towards relevant advice.
Publications and Alerts: Improved content discovery through clearer categorisation, search and filtering patterns.
Content Templates: Consistent layouts for news, blogs and other content types, including metadata and related information.
Design System: Refined components, variants and responsive behaviours to support consistent experiences across the platform.
Outcomes
Improved Content Organisation
Clearer navigation and content hierarchy provide a more structured way for users to explore cyber security information.
Consistent User Experience
Reusable components and established interaction patterns help maintain consistency across different sections of the website.
Responsive and Accessible Design
Layouts and components were designed to adapt across desktop, tablet and mobile while supporting accessibility requirements.
Scalable Design System
Expanded component libraries and documentation provide a stronger foundation for future pages, content types and ongoing development.
More Effective Design Handoff
Detailed Figma specifications and ongoing developer collaboration helped clarify responsive behaviour and reduce ambiguity during implementation.
Conclusion
The cyber.gov.au redesign was an opportunity to improve how complex, technical information is presented to a broad Australian audience.
My work focused on bringing clarity and consistency to the experience, from simplifying navigation and improving content discovery to refining the components that support the wider website.
The project reinforced the value of a well-structured design system, particularly when working across large websites with varied content requirements, multiple stakeholders and tight delivery timelines.
