Fortnightly EHQ Staff Pick: Canterbury Earthquake Memorial

This fortnight's staff pick comes from Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority, Christchurch City Council, Ministry of Culture and Heritage and Ngāi Tahu. CCC have been using EHQ for a little more than a year now, and with other agencies have launched arguably the most significant recovery project yet with EHQ.

Site: Christchurch City Council

Project: The Canterbury Earthquake Memorial

Publish Date: 17 February 2015

Topic: Public Space Design

Tools: Survey

Widgets: Photo Gallery, Videos (through Vimeo embed)

What we like:

1. Project specific banner: A project of this significance to the city just deserves its own banner. The banner is designed straight to the point. As a visitor, looking at the banner is enough to fully understand what this consultation is about.

2. General set up: The project set up is probably one of the easiest you can imagine, yet is highly appropriate given the nature and background of this project. Just one survey, photos and videos. The focus is on the topic at hand, no distractions. 

3. Photo and video content: The content in the widgets is beautifully designed and presented. Both the videos and the photos are in high quality and showcase what the design proposals offer well.

4. The tool: Keeping with the overall set up, the survey tool was undoubtedly the right tool to use. It allows anonymous participation so that visitors can quickly participate without having to register. Although we usually like registrations, as you can built your community that way, given the topic of the project, the less steps towards participation the better. 

5. Footer links: This is beyond the scope of this project, but definitely worth noting. Have a look at the footer and you will see how the CCC provide information and feedback on past projects through a range of static pages, e.g. 'Survey Results - what we are hearing'.  Closing the loop in such a way is fantastic best practice and worth thinking about replicating on your site.

For further consideration: 

1. Renaming the tool: The tool tab still says 'Survey & Forms', which is just a minor point, but might be worth considering renaming.
   
   
2. Widget titles: Usually it is a good idea to hide widget titles as much as possible. In this case however, it might help with the overall structure to include widget titles so that the different design options are separated a bit more.

OVERALL: Given the background of the project, the significance of this engagement for the City of Christchurch cannot be underestimated. And this project does it justice. It is simple, straight to the point without any unnecessary distractions or noise. The focus is on including the community in the decision making process and with over 500 responses in as little as 7 days, the community clearly appreciates being involved.

NOTE: The above is based on a visit to the site on 20 February 2015. Changes made to the project after that date may have altered the appearance of the project.