Mayor’s Youth Advisory Council
government
- Software Development
- IT Consulting
- Cloud Hosting
- Website Development
- User Experience Strategy
- API Integration
- User Interface Design
The Overview
The Mayor’s Youth Advisory Council (MYAC) was established under the leadership of Mayor Bristol to encourage civic engagement and empowerment among the youth of Prosper, TX. Its primary goal is to guide the Town Council on matters related to the young population, from addressing their concerns to formulating policies that improve their quality of life. MYAC also spearheads special initiatives and organizes youth-centered events that promote community cohesion and growth. The council includes young ambassadors who are dedicated to the well-being and progress of Prosper. They represent their generation and inspire positive change within their community, making a lasting impact on the town’s future.
Falkon was tasked with developing a seamless and secure online application process accessible on the Town’s website. The application facilitates the process in which students apply for the opportunity to serve on the Mayor’s Youth Advisory Council. This local government case study presents an overview of Falkon’s role and strategy in creating the MYAC project for Prosper, providing insights into their development approach.
The Challenge
The MYAC committee designed a simple youth advisory council application form to collect applicant information. However, the initial form was unable to accommodate the application’s intricate requirements, allowing only one file submission at a time and lacking the ability to direct the application package to a designated SharePoint location. As a result, Falkon was tasked to reconstruct the youth application form.
Project Goals
- Develop a form application that collects applicant information, introduction video files, and reference documents.
- Enable a successful completion of the application message and inform the staff that an application has been submitted.
Our Solution
After conducting a meeting with the client and users, Falkon gained a deeper understanding of the existing system and user pain points and then prepared a comprehensive analysis of the requirements and research. Falkon successfully developed a custom user-friendly and mobile-friendly form design with an interface design that reflected the existing MYAC branding and seamlessly blended with Proper’s website. The structure was inspired by the following top-form design best practices:
- Simplified form fields
- Limited use of multiple columns
- Minimized dropdowns
- Enabled the ability to tab to the next form field
- Communicated errors clearly and kindly
- Avoided the “clear fields” button
The advisory council application solution not only collects and transmits user information, reference forms, and introduction videos but also includes a unique feature that compiles all elements of an applicant’s submission into a streamlined student package during transmission. This innovative approach significantly simplifies the application review process, improving efficiency and ease of use.
In addition to simplifying the application submission and review process, Falkon also incorporated the power automate programming for the email flow, which provided application submission acknowledgment emails to all parties involved (the student, mentor, and parent).
The Outcome
Falkon successfully developed a user-friendly web form that can be easily accessed from any device, while also simplifying the review process for the MYAC committee. This has been a win-win situation for both the applicants and the reviewers.
The Mayor’s Youth Advisory Council application web form is now live on prospertx.gov and can be used by anyone who meets the requirements and wishes to apply. It was a great privilege to assist the Town of Prosper in their efforts to help young people develop lifelong leadership skills and gain knowledge about the functionality of local government.
“ I had a fantastic experience collaborating with Falkon on our recent high-profile/public-facing
Mayor’s Youth Advisory Committee application tracking SharePoint project. What truly impressed me
was their immediate and adept handling of adjustments to this ‘from scratch’ project throughout the
development process that was on a tight deadline. Their technical expertise and commitment to
refining the project based on feedback resulted in a final SharePoint solution that exceeded our
expectations.
I wholeheartedly recommend this talented software development team to anyone seeking
professionals who excel in technical capabilities while valuing continuous improvement and client
satisfaction.
Len McCaw Technical Project Manager/Business Analyst Information Technology; Town of Prosper, TX
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