The ground was sinking and nobody knew why their bill went up

Here's a hard thing to design for: a problem you can't see, caused by a word nobody knows, explained on a website nobody reads.

The word is subsidence, the slow sinking of land when too much groundwater gets pumped out. It's the entire reason NFBWA exists and operates the way it does. It's also the reason fees show up on water bills. And almost no homeowner had any idea. The Authority had been trying to explain it the expensive old way, through print and traditional media, and watching most of it land in the recycling.

This was never really a website project. It was a "make people care about something invisible" project. My favorite kind.

As the Information Architect and UX Designer, I went and listened first, to the NFBWA board and to more than a dozen municipal leaders. Same gaps everywhere: the community didn't get subsidence, didn't know what the Authority did, and had zero idea how to actually save water or money.

So I built the strategy around what people needed to understand, then worked backward from there. What's the handful of things a resident truly needs to grasp? What subsidence is and why it matters to their house. Why pipelines and infrastructure exist. And what they can do tomorrow to use less and pay less.

Connecting Information to Everyday Life

I redesigned the site around how people think, instead of how the org is shaped: clear categories, visuals that made the technical stuff click, and accessibility standards so nobody got left out.

Creating a Stronger Connection with the Community

The new website became a powerful educational hub for the community, making NFBWA’s mission clear and actionable. It transformed how the Authority engaged with its audience, replacing confusion with understanding and frustration with empowerment.

Key features of the solution included:

• Educational Content: Clear explanations of subsidence, conservation, and infrastructure projects.

• Interactive Tools: Resources to help homeowners calculate water savings and learn practical conservation methods.

• Unified Communication: A cohesive voice and tone that humanized the Authority and strengthened its connection with residents.

Visit the site at https://www.nfbwa.com

The Impact

The new site stopped being a utility brochure and became something people actually used to understand their own community. After launch: 89% more new visitors, 1,979% growth in organic search impressions, and 108% bigger social audience. Plus some hardware for the shelf.

Awards

Next project: symplr