Over the last couple of months, we’ve launched two new websites for Jasper County, Iowa: One for the overall county and one for their Emergency Management Department.
When building out both sites, we worked with the county to create features that met their needs and increased usability for county staff and site visitors. The new websites are powered by our easy-to-use proprietary content management system, Mint Chip Lab. Our main goal was to make it more efficient for staff to make edits so the sites are utilized to their fullest potential for residents.
”Our main goal was to provide a more updated, organized, and optimized website for our citizens to find what they’re looking for! We want to honor their time by saving them multiple trips to our offices, providing what they need right online, on their time.
Jennifer CrossSocial Media/Communications Specialist | Jasper County
Developing the New County Site
To kick off the county website project, we met with each county department over a few days to discuss pain points on the current site, wishlists for the new one, and what content to keep. Then, over the next few months, we worked with the departments to transfer desired existing content and any additions over to Mint Chip Lab.
Meanwhile, Kimber Box, Neapolitan Labs senior project manager (and our amazing designer), got to work mocking up the site’s key elements inspired by their existing logo. Once the design was approved, our development team began building out the website, bringing the content and Kimber’s design to life. Once complete, previews went out to department staff members to review their sections and provide feedback before launch. We had a tight deadline and are extremely thankful for the quick responses we received.
We are thrilled with the completed project: The new website features a unique design that matches the county’s colorful existing branding, simplified navigation structure, user-friendly search, new collapsible FAQs, dynamic job posting updates, and more. The new homepage design brings in fresh content, from the latest news posts to upcoming events. Staff can also add alerts sitewide or to specific department or service pages.
Before and after of the Jasper County website.
Emergency Management’s Site
While we were building out the new county site, we were also developing a second website for Jasper County for their Emergency Management Department (EMA). Like the other county departments, we met with the EMA team in person to discuss goals, design elements, and content. Their goals aligned with the county’s that they needed a modern site that was easier for residents to navigate and for them to update.
The new site brings in desired lighter, earthier tones, more content above the fold on the homepage, and a simplified page structure. We were also able to connect the two sites to save the EMA team time. Posting news or updating their staff information will not only update the EMA site but also that information on the county site. Similarly, the Jasper County Elections website is also tightly integrated with the county site; staff have the ability to make edits in a single place.
“Our county is fortunate to have department heads and leaders who work together to inform our citizens on everything from safety to elections to meetings and agendas and everything in between,” Jenn Cross, Jasper County’s social media/communications specialist, said. “It’s efficient to have it all in one place as the administrator.”
Before and after of the Jasper County EMA website.
”We are so excited about our newly re-designed website by Neapolitan Labs. Brian and Ashley incorporated our ideas into their plan and have been absolutely wonderful to work with. The training on Mint Chip Lab made the process seem very intuitive for making changes but when we have questions, their team is very responsive in providing prompt answers to our questions.
Kathy EllisProgram Manager | Jasper County Emergency Management
Thank you to Jasper County for giving us the opportunity to develop these two sites! If you’re interested in a new website, whether for county government, school districts, or for an organization or small business, contact us today.
