Driving Change: How OMVIC’s Website Redesign Enhanced User Engagement with Key Audiences

Project Details

Paper Leaf partnered with the Ontario Motor Vehicle Industry Council (OMVIC) to create a streamlined, accessible, and user-focused website tailored to their two primary audiences: buyers and sellers.

Problem Statement

The Ontario Motor Vehicle Industry Council (OMVIC), as a regulatory body, is responsible for protecting car buyers in Ontario. Its mission is to ensure that car buyers are safeguarded and that dealers and salespeople operate with honesty, integrity, and fairness. With over 8,000 dealers and 30,000 salespeople registered, OMVIC faced the challenge of improving the consumer-facing experience while addressing diverse stakeholder requirements, including legalities, language options, and accessibility needs. Further, they wanted a clean, modern website with a back end CMS that was easy for their communications team to update and produce content.

What We Did

Discovery Phase

Our discovery phase centered on understanding OMVIC’s current website state and user needs. To achieve this, Paper Leaf conducted the following activities:

• Stakeholder interviews and user research
• Proto-personas
• Top task research
• Site mapping and information architecture layout
• Moodboards
• Accessibility checklist
• Technical plan
• Functional requirements mapping

This comprehensive research involved 926 participants and revealed critical insights into user priorities for buyers, dealers, and salespeople. We honed in on the specific user flows that mattered most to the public and to the industry. We identified key user flows, clarified the navigation, and addressed inconsistent terminology. For example, people were referred to as “consumers” throughout the site, but the research showed this term didn’t resonate with car buyers. 

OMVIC was extremely satisfied with our ability to untangle the prior website state, and the strategy document that was created from the research  became our guiding light for the path forward.

Design and Build

Paper Leaf developed a modern website with a contemporary look, feel, and user experience (UX). Research identified two distinct audiences—buyers and sellers—prompting the creation of content tailored to their specific needs. The site was built on WordPress with custom integrations for Microsoft Dynamics/PowerApps, enabling seamless connectivity with OMVIC’s CARS system.
Key build features include:

• Enhanced Site Search: Supports site-wide text searches with advanced filtering.
• Dealer Search: Allows users to verify the legitimacy of dealerships and salespeople, including license and offense histories.
• Streamlined Navigation and Content: Improved usability and clarity.
• Enhanced Resource Center: Features additional filtering and search functionalities.
• Accessibility Compliance: Fully meets WCAG 2.0 AA and AODA requirements.
• CARS System Integration: Integration with the CARS system and Google Maps to not only display information, but to retrieve coordinates and update them in CARS.

Outcomes

The OMVIC website launch was a resounding success, achieving measurable results and receiving glowing feedback from stakeholders. The site saw significant growth in organic traffic and delivered relevant content to their key audiences. The collaboration with OMVIC exemplifies the power of user-focused design and a collaborative approach. The result is a modern, accessible, and effective digital experience that delivers on both user and organizational needs.