The Challenge
The New York State Unified Court System (UCS) needed to modernize both its public website and internal intranet to better serve a broad and diverse audience, including court staff, legal professionals, self-represented litigants, and the general public. Over time, the existing sites had become difficult to navigate, making it harder for users to complete common tasks and access critical information, particularly for unrepresented users seeking justice without legal assistance. In addition to usability concerns, UCS faced challenges related to consistency and scalability. Disparate designs and technologies across web properties weakened brand cohesion and user trust, while the underlying platforms limited the systemโs ability to support accessibility, multilingual content (in an ongoing enhancement), integrated search, and future enhancements.
Our Approach
As the winning vendor, GovWebworks set out to define a Drupal-based platform that would meet the diverse needs of the redesign. The project followed a structured yet flexible Agile approach, beginning with a discovery phase focused on understanding current-state conditions and defining a clear, user-centered future vision. Through stakeholder interviews, analysis, and weekly working sessions, the team aligned on priorities, identified key user tasks, and established a roadmap grounded in transparency and collaboration. Implementation proceeded through an extended Agile delivery model, with iterative development across multiple two-week sprints for both the public site and intranet. The development team, made up of combined forces from GWW and UCS, emphasized continuous feedback, quality assurance, security best practices, and clear governance, ensuring UCS maintained full visibility and control throughout the project lifecycle.
The Result
The redesigned public website delivers a more intuitive, accessible, and cohesive digital experience for all UCS users. By organizing content around user needs and common tasks, the new sites improve access to justice, streamline interactions, and better support self-represented litigants navigating the court system. Behind the scenes, UCS now benefits from a modern, secure, and scalable Drupal foundation that supports consistent branding, ongoing improvement, and future innovation. The result is a unified digital presence that strengthens public trust, enhances operational efficiency, and positions the court system to evolve alongside the needs of New Yorkers. The Court of Appeals and Intranet sites are still under development for launch at a future date.
