Los Angeles Department of Water and Power

The Client

The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) stands as the largest municipal utility in the United States, delivering critical water and power services to millions of residents and businesses throughout Los Angeles. With a legacy extending over a century, LADWP is committed to serving one of the nation's most diverse and populated regions.

The Situation

While LADWP is a trusted utility provider, their digital platform struggled to meet the evolving demands of a diverse and growing population. Customers faced challenges navigating a structure that made finding critical services like bill payments, outage updates, or financial assistant programs time-consuming and frustrating.

Recognizing the need for a modern, accessible, and future-proof website, LADWP collaborated with digital experience experts Hounder and Acquia. Together, they were on a mission to revamp the LADWP website, ensuring seamless services for its users while equipping the organization with efficient tools for content management.

The Challenge

The existing LADWP website presented a number of roadblocks for users trying to access critical services, including bill payments, outage updates, and financial assistance programs. Navigation was inconvenient and key information required too many clicks to locate. The inefficiencies increased frustration for residents who rely on the platform for essential utilities.

Specific challenges included:

Accessibility Issues

• The site lacked ADA compliance
• Mobile responsiveness and usability were inconsistent across devices

User Experience Gaps

• Inefficient navigation meant users struggled to complete tasks without resorting to calling support
• Vital services like “Pay My Bill” and Outage Updates” were buried under multiple layers of content

Operational Bottlenecks

• A rigid content management system (CMS) made updates burdensome and time consuming for LADWP staff
• A disconnected architecture created challenges in integrating backed systems seamlessly

LADWP required a modern architecture and a contemporary CMS to facilitate efficient content updates. With a large department of editors responsible for site management, a modern CMS was essential to streamline processes.

Implementing these changes has resulted in substantial cost savings. The ease with which authors can now make changes and edits on the fly represents a significant operational improvement, marking a major victory in terms of efficiency and resource management.

The Solution

Hounder led an extensive, research-driven redesign process. They worked closely with Drupal and Acquia’s Professional Services team on implementation and design, using Acquia Site Studio and hosting through managed services. 

The research guided every step of the redesign process, from content audits to journey mapping.

User Research and Journey Mapping

• The redesign began with a deep understanding of the users’ needs. LADWP identified five primary goals, including paying bills, finding outage updates, and exploring financial assistance programs.
• Content audits and user journeys highlighted accessibility gaps and opportunities to simplify navigation.

Modern UX/UI Design

• From wireframes to full-color designs, Hounder developed a cohesive visual identity that reflected LADWP’s mission while ensuring intuitive navigation.
• Features like 114 custom-designed icons enhanced aesthetics and functionality, ensuring users could quickly locate resources at a glance. 

Powerful Drupal Architecture

• Using 33 templates and 40+ customizable components, Hounder delivered a scalable design system that supports seamless content updates.
• With Drupal’s modular framework, the team achieved smooth integration with LADWP’s backed systems, enabling uninterrupted service delivery.

User Testing and Iteration

• Testing with a diverse set of users validated design improvements, ensuring accessibility and usability goals were met before full-scale launch.
• Adjustments from these insights fine-tuned the platform to address real-world user pain points.

The Results

The partnership between LADWP, Hounder, and Acquia resulted in improvements across user experience, operational efficiency, and overall customer satisfaction. By integrating Acquia’s robust tools and Drupal’s adaptable framework, Hounder provided LADWP with a platform that meets the needs of today’s users while preparing for tomorrow’s challenges.

Key Wins

Streamlined access to Services

• Customers experienced significant reductions in time it took to pay bills, sign up for service, or find savings programs.

Enhanced User Satisfaction

• The newly designed site received positive user feedback as a result of its accessibility, responsive design, and intuitive navigation.

Operational Efficiency

• LADWP staff can now make faster, independent updates to the website without engaging developers, saving time and resources.

Hounder’s human-centered design, combined with Acquia and Drupal’s technological capabilities, effectively catered to the diverse user needs, not only meeting current demands but also equipping them to adapt to future challenges.

The LADWP team is pleased with both the process and the collaborative work we’ve done together, particularly as we help rebuild their site portal. Looking ahead, LADWP is exploring opportunities to extend these improvements further, including integrating additional services and fully implementing Acquia and Drupal into their account.

LADWP’s Renee Vasquez shared her thoughts on the partnership, “Hounder was so incredible to work with. They were extremely thoughtful and were a constant advocate for the customer’s needs. They’re a highly sought-after team and we were so thrilled to work with them! Not to mention the website turned out amazing!”