PORT OF SEATTLE 
MEMORANDUM 

COMMISSION AGENDA             Item No.      7b 
Date of Meeting     January 10, 2012 
DATE:    January 4, 2012 
TO:      Tay Yoshitani, Chief Executive Officer 
FROM:    Patricia Akiyama, Director, Public Affairs 
Jane Kilburn, Director, International Tourism 
Nancy Blanton, Manager, Business and Corporate Communications 
SUBJECT:  Briefing: Port of Seattle's Internet Site 

BACKGROUND:
The Port of Seattle's website serves nearly 6,000 visitors per day, including travelers and
customers at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, air and marine cargo customers, cruise
passengers, recreational boaters who use port-operated marinas, real estate customers and
tenants, waterfront park visitors, community members who view commission meetings and
documents, and many more. The website had not been fully redesigned and updated since 2003,
yet technology has changed at a rapid pace. 
A redesign of the site was planned as early as 2008, but because of economic considerations, the
project was postponed. The complete redesign the Port of Seattle's public Internet site began in
December 2010, with the overarching goal of improving service to our community and
customers by providing the ease of use and newer technologies they had come to expect. The
project goals were to: 
Replace aging and broken systems with a collaborative and interactive platform 
Update the information architecture and design to incorporate the port's new
brand identity 
Address the changed organizational structure and new business directions 
Ensure the website's architecture meets the needs of the port's primary audiences 
PROJECT OVERVIEW: 
Primarily a collaboration between the Information, Communication and Technology Department
(ICT) and Public Affairs, the project engaged many departments across the organization as well
as a technology and design consultant. After defining requirements for the new website based on
defined goals, audience personas, and the needs of public-facing business units, we engaged port

COMMISSION AGENDA 
T. Yoshitani, Chief Executive Officer 
January 4, 2012 
Page 2 of 3 

staff in a broad-based cleanup  reducing our website content by about 50 percent to ensure a
leaner more up-to-date and efficient website. 
First, ICT researched the options and selected the new platform on which to build our new site, 
SharePoint 2010, which would provide the design latitude needed while allowing greater
participation of employees in maintaining specific sections of the website without requiring a lot
of technical expertise. 
Second, we worked closely with our consultant Blue Rooster to refine our site architecture in a
way that we believed would be more intuitive for the people visiting our site, and organized all
information to flow from three simple navigation options: 
Travel & Recreation 
Business with the Port 
About the Port 
Large drop-down menus make the content of each section clear and easy to access. We also
incorporated Port of Seattle colors and graphic icons to help communicate our brand identity. For
example, many of the icons are green, reflecting the green bar in the port's logo and our
commitment to environmental stewardship as a constant thread throughout all we do. 
Our organizational structure had changed since the previous website was created. In addition to
the Aviation and Seaport operating divisions, Real Estate and Capital Development divisions 
have been created. Real Estate properties now have clear and easy-to-find listings under the
Business heading, right next to the contracting and construction project listings. These sections
also link to feature stories that describe the projects underway. 
Project leaders and team members kept our audience in mind throughout the site development.
For example, to ensure transparency and ease of use, the Commission pages are improved to
provide tables and tabs allowing viewers to quickly access what they need. All agendas and
memos for specific meetings are a click away, and all supporting documents for agenda items are
linked within the agendas and memos. Live streaming of Commission meetings is available on
the Commission page, and after the meetings the videos are categorized and linked from the
same tab box. 
In addition, the new site incorporates social media on various pages, allowing our audience to
keep up with port events and business activities on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube via their
computer and mobile devices.

COMMISSION AGENDA 
T. Yoshitani, Chief Executive Officer 
January 4, 2012 
Page 3 of 3 

RESULTS AND NEXT STEPS: 
Prior to launching it to the public, the new website was made available to all port employees for
preview and feedback. The site was officially launched on November 14, 2011. 
In the first month following launch the website tracked 209,823 visits, and 688,217 page views,
which is consistent with previous numbers. We have received positive feedback from viewers
regarding the new look, the use of slide shows and video, and the ease of navigation. We will
continue to track activity on our pages and video to note trends and make continuous
improvements. 
In January 2012, the project will continue with training for designated members of the publicfacing
departments so that they can maintain their own content on the site and keep information
fresh for our viewers. Those members will be part of an ongoing collaborative team. 
OTHER DOCUMENTS ASSOCIATED WITH THIS BRIEFING: 
PowerPoint presentation.