The Willow Creek Economic Development Corporation unveiled a redesigned homepage Monday featuring 18 individual statistics, part of an ambitious new effort to provide corporate decision-makers with enough information that no single fact has much chance of being remembered.
“We wanted the site to be data-driven,” said Executive Director Jennifer Lawson. “Companies make decisions based on information, so we wanted to put the important numbers right up front.”
Visitors scrolling down the homepage are now presented with animated counters highlighting Willow Creek’s population, regional population, labor force, median household income, median age, educational attainment, commute time, manufacturing employment and distance to the nearest interstate.
The numbers appear in large type accompanied by icons.
“We have an icon for almost everything,” Lawson said.
A factory represents manufacturing employment.
A graduation cap represents educational attainment.
A lightning bolt represents electricity.
Nobody is entirely sure what the hexagon represents.
The redesigned homepage was developed following feedback from stakeholders who said the previous website needed more data.
“Someone at a board meeting asked why we didn’t show our labor participation rate,” Lawson said. “So we added it.”
Another board member suggested including the local tax rate.
It was added.
A utility partner recommended displaying average industrial electric costs.
Added.
“Once you start adding the important numbers, it becomes surprisingly difficult to determine which numbers aren’t important,” Lawson said.
The result is a homepage that allows visitors to learn that Willow Creek has a median age of 38.7, an average commute of 21.4 minutes, 14,682 households, 6,219 residents with bachelor’s degrees or higher and approximately 212 sunny days per year.
Marketing staff acknowledged they could not immediately explain why a corporate site selector would need to know the number of sunny days.
“But 212 is a strong number,” Lawson said.
Several of the statistics appear in a section titled “Willow Creek By The Numbers.”
Additional numbers appear immediately above and below it.
“We considered putting all of them together,” said the website designer. “But then it started to look like a lot of numbers.”
Early user testing has shown that visitors generally remember one statistic after viewing the homepage. Researchers have not yet determined which one.
“We asked one participant what stood out most,” Lawson said. “He said 42 percent.”
Staff searched the website afterward and identified two different statistics containing 42 percent.
The homepage also prominently displays that Willow Creek is within 500 miles of 41 percent of the U.S. population and within a one-day drive of 62 percent.
Officials said the geographic statistics demonstrate Willow Creek’s strategic location.
Asked where Willow Creek is actually located, one test user said, “Somewhere in Indiana, I think.” Economic development leaders nevertheless remain confident that the amount of information will distinguish Willow Creek from competing communities.
“We don’t want prospects leaving our website because they couldn’t find a number,” Lawson said.
The organization is already planning the site’s next update.
Staff recently discovered three additional workforce statistics available through the Census Bureau. “There’s probably room for one or two,” Lawson said.
At press time, Willow Creek officials were debating whether the homepage should also display the community’s elevation.
It is 783 feet.
