New online presence highlights uniformity, navigation
The Southern Ute Shared Services (SUSS) web team initiated a project to redesign many of the Tribe’s websites with a mobile friendly, unified theme across tribal entities. They worked with Tribal Council, Executive Office, Tribal Departments and Growth Fund Business to gather the highest quality imagery and up-to-date content in order to simultaneously launch the websites, which went live on Friday, July 20.
“Those guys worked very hard to get everyone’s feedback, and to create a uniform feel,” said Alan Young, SUSS’s Chief Information Officer. “We want the same look and feel across the board.”
The interactive maps are great feature too, he added. “Navigation is everything. I’m all about consistency.”
The Southern Ute Indian Tribe maintains several public websites in order to provide important information to the membership, public, business partners, and potential employees. Some of the designs grew dated as web browsers and standards evolved, and mobile device use increased, explained Web and SharePoint Development Supervisor, Dana Kopf.
“What made this possible was the consolidation of Tribal IT,” Kopf said. “It was my initiative to bring these websites up to speed — some of the websites were seven years old.”
“We did a lot of research, to see what other tribes and government organizations were doing. It’s been very positive.” Kopf asserted. We wanted the best for the Tribe in terms of visual appeal, navigation and usability. “We’ve had some really good feedback,” Young said.
Several new sites were launched, including the expanded tribal member portal, the Southern Ute store, the Southern Ute Museum, and the Southern Ute Indian Montessori Academy. SUSS also added secure encryption to many sites that were previously unencrypted. The team is currently working on an updated Lake Capote website and are assisting the Sky Ute Casino Resort with updates to their website.
Additionally, the Southern Ute Shared Services Human Capital Management team is excited to announce a major update to the career portal employment website. This upgrade has new user-friendly features, including easier navigation, mobile device compatibility, and forgotten username and password retrieval.
List of updated sites:
Southern Ute Indian Tribe – https://www.southernute-nsn.gov/
Southern Ute Museum – https://www.southernutemuseum.org/
Southern Ute Montessori Academy – https://www.suima.org/
SunUte Community Center – https://www.sunute.com/
Multi-Purpose Facility and Chapel – https://mpf-chapel.sunute.com/
Southern Ute Growth Fund – https://www.sugf.com/
Red Willow Production Company – https://www.rwpc.us/
Red Cedar Gathering Company – https://www.redcedargathering.com/
Aka Energy Group – https://www.akaenergy.com/
Southern Ute Department of Energy – https://www.suitdoe.com/
GF Properties Group – https://www.gfpropertiesgroup.com/
GF Private Equity Group – https://www.gfprivateequity.com/
Southern Ute Utilities – https://www.suitutil.com/
Sky Ute Fairgrounds – https://www.skyutefairgrounds.com/
Southern Ute Shared Services – https://www.southernute.com/