# Award-winning, mobile-first website improved city-wide vocational education awareness

Gamified mobile-first platform with material design principles and website personalization helping job-seekers discover careers and training opportunities across Philadelphia's workforce system.

## Project snapshot

- **Client:** Pennsylvania CareerLink® Philadelphia  
- **Year:** 2019

### Services

- [Web Design & Development](/content/our-work#service=Web+Design+%26+Development/index.html)  
- [Design Strategy](/content/our-work#service=Design+Strategy/index.html)  
- [UX Design](/content/our-work#service=UX+Design/index.html)  
- [Search Engine Optimization](/content/our-work#service=Search+Engine+Optimization/index.html)  
- [Web Analytics](/content/our-work#service=Web+Analytics/index.html)

## The Background

Pennsylvania CareerLink® Philadelphia is in partnership with the PA Department of Labor and Industry and Human Services, along with various direct-service providers, employers, and community organizations—to support Philadelphians in becoming work-ready and accessing career opportunities.

## The Problem

PA CareerLink® Philadelphia needed a mobile-first solution and a cohesive brand representation online. The old website had:

- Unclear messaging and poor user experience  
- Accessibility issues preventing users from finding next steps  
- Poor information architecture with hundreds of technical errors  
- Low brand awareness critical for community service providers  
- Fragmented resources across multiple pages

## The Solution

Key Medium designed and streamlined a comprehensive career discovery platform with award-winning experience:

**Gamification & Personalization:**

- Mobile-first design featuring engaging components and subtle personalization  
- Gamified elements to encourage exploration and action  
- Website personalization for users who submit lead forms  
- Material design principles for modern, familiar interactions

**Information Architecture:**

- Two-sided platform serving job-seekers and business partners  
- Clear action tiles from homepage: "I'm looking to…" with options for finding jobs, training, disability services (individuals) and searching talent, viewing labor market data, industry partnerships (businesses)  
- Restructured to surface: job search, career discovery, skills training, support services, workshops  
- Clear menus and graphical interface elements

**Technical & SEO Strategy:**

- Custom WordPress theme with mobile-first development  
- Stakeholder and constituent engagement before launch  
- Rapid deep dive into analytics and brand research  
- Brand identity design aligned with State guidelines  
- Web analytics and Google Data Studio implementation for unified dashboards  
- Schema markup and accessibility best practices

**Analytics & Measurement:**

- Real-time data points and performance tracking in unified dashboard  
- Accessible 24/7 analytics with easy-to-understand executive scorecard  
- Self-service forms with goal measurement aligned to workforce development strategy

_The PACareerLinkPHL.org site reached over 146K users from Mar 2019 - Aug 2022_

## The Results

Transformational impact on career discovery and workforce development across Philadelphia:

**Traffic & Engagement:**

- **+25% lift in sessions** year-over-year, reaching broader job-seeker and employer audiences  
- **+48% increase in user acquisition** demonstrating improved visibility and relevance  
- **+36% increase in organic traffic** showing strong search visibility  
- **4+ million organic impressions** in Google Search  
- **146K+ total users** over the platform's lifetime  
- **444K+ page views** indicating strong engagement with content

**Conversions & Outcomes:**

- **1,300+ new leads for upskilling** (Vocational Skills Training) through first personalized self-service form  
- **3.5K additional interested users** for training opportunities  
- **31K+ outbound referrals** to partner programs and services  
- **38K+ referrals** to state resources  
- **6.7K people called** a phone number from the site via mobile  
- **155+ businesses** expressed interest in workforce solutions

**Awards & Recognition:**

- **2019 Communicator Awards Distinction** (Features-User Experience for Websites)  
- **2019 Communicator Awards Distinction** (Websites - General-Employment)  
- **2019 Hermes Creative Awards Gold** (Web-Mobile Information Experience)  
- **2019 MUSE Creative Awards Gold** (Website - Employment)

The platform demonstrated how thoughtful design, gamification, and data-driven optimization can create transformational outcomes for workforce development at scale.

## Results

| Metric                          | Value               |
|---------------------------------|--------------------|
| **Traffic lift**                | +25% YoY           |
| **User acquisition**            | +48% YoY           |
| **Organic traffic**             | +36% YoY           |
| **Organic impressions**          | 4M+                |
| **Total users**                 | 146K+              |
| **Page views**                  | 444K+              |
| **VST leads generated**         | 1,300+             |
| **Outbound referrals**          | 31K+               |
| **Phone calls from mobile**     | 6.7K+              |
| **Businesses seeking solutions** | 155+               |

## Awards & Recognition

- 2019 Communicator Award of Distinction (Features-User Experience for Websites)  
- 2019 Communicator Award of Distinction (Websites - General-Employment)  
- 2019 Hermes Creative Awards (Web-Mobile Information Experience)  
- 2019 MUSE Creative Awards (Website - Employment)