As people who love downtown Kansas City, we believe there’s no more important project for the future of the city than the construction of the streetcar starter line. So when we were selected to design the new kcstreetcar.org, we were both tremendously excited and extremely proud.

The new website, which we produced in collaboration with Burns & McDonnell, The KC Streetcar Constructors and the City of Kansas City, communicates construction notices and updates along the 2-mile streetcar route. If you think that sounds boring, we worked hard to make sure it wasn’t. The site features a fun, illustrated map that is not only extremely functional, but places the streetcar in its rightful place among the other landmarks that define our city.

“We knew conceptually what type of user experience we wanted to create. JLSA created that vision through effective graphics, a smart layout, and a user-friendly and intuitive content-management that makes it possible for our team to make frequent updates in a minimal amount of time.” Meghan Jansen, Public Information Manager, KC Streetcar Constructors

The technical challenges of this project were obvious: Due to the ever-changing nature of such a huge, city-wide endeavor, updates needed to be made quickly and easily. Everything is editable through a WordPress content management system, even the map. The site also needed to work flawlessly on all devices, so we designed it to be mobile friendly.

The communication challenges of this project were less obvious and, in some ways, more difficult. We needed to let people get the information they needed quickly, but deliver it in a way that minimized the stress of detours and lane closures. Construction projects on this scale can be inconvenient, but if viewed through the lens of progress, excitement and city pride, we thought we could lessen any potential frustration.

Visit the new website at kcstreetcar.org from your computer, tablet or phone and be sure to check back often to stay up to date on the construction progress of Kansas City’s streetcar.