Skip to Main Content
Search
Menu
Close Menu
Let's Talk
Let's Talk
A young child holds hands with two adults, likely grandparents, as they walk along a dirt path in a sun-dappled forest. Tall evergreen trees surround them.

ADRC Wisconsin

An accessible services directory built for staff and citizens’ needs

A brand new directory to dramatically improve access

Wisconsin’s Aging & Disability Resource Centers (ADRCs) provide vital services to the state’s population. ADRCs give aging and disabled citizens and their loved ones access to key information about resources and service providers within their area. 

Visit the site

Wisconsin’s Department of Health Services (DHS) and Bureau of Aging and Disability Resources (BADR) wanted to create a brand-new, state-wide directory of ADRCs and the resources they provide. They entrusted Palantir.net to deliver a modernized site and directory, with users’ needs infused into every phase of the project. 

Prior to this project, there was no one state-wide directory for Wisconsin ADRCs. The disabled and elderly residents of Wisconsin had to manually navigate the websites of 54 different ADRCs and 11 Tribal Nation ADRCs, each with their own information architecture, layout, and UX. Additionally, much of the information the directory aimed to capture simply wasn’t available online. Access to many of the resources was contingent on finding and calling a local ADRC, placing a significant burden on staff to manually connect people to the relevant information.

What BADR envisioned was an ADRC site and directory that was:

  • Designed to the specifications of the DHS web design system
  • Fully compliant with WCAG 2.0 AA accessibility standards
  • Presented with a uniform information structure across all ADRCs in a repeatable, understandable format
  • Optimized for usability and user experience, including site visitors who are less familiar with internet navigation

Palantir had already worked with Wisconsin DHS on creating the DHS Drupal platform. This platform was designed with projects like the ADRC application in mind — we aimed to build a platform that would offer easy options for extension and centralization after the core platform project wrapped up. Following the success of the initial DHS Drupal platform, Wisconsin DHS and BADR entrusted us to bring the vision of a unified ADRC service to life. 
 

Collaboration built into every process

Cooperation was a crucial part of the project from the outset. We worked closely with BADR, the agency responsible for building and maintaining the database of ADRC resources, to create an API integration which would pull and sanitize data for the ADRC Drupal site.

We work in agile, and quickly onboarded the BADR team to agile methodologies, including working in sprints. We also established a regular cadence of weekly check-ins and working sessions, and used collaborative tools such as Miro and Google Docs to give the team a high level of oversight during every phase of the process.

“What I really enjoyed about working with Palantir, and working in agile, was being able to collaborate and have direct input. Typically, we’d wait weeks for an agency to build something, and only get to contribute our feedback after the fact,” said Jennifer Getter, Resource Directory Integration Specialist Lead at BADR. 
 

“

Palantir’s style of working — where we’re constantly discussing what’s going to work best, and how we can make it even better — has been fantastic.

Jennifer Getter, Resource Directory Integration Specialist Lead, Wisconsin Bureau of Aging and Disability Resources

A feature-rich site tailored to users’ needs

Based on the user research we conducted, we identified and built five key features for the ADRC directory.

  • Browse. Some site visitors want to independently select resources from an overview of all possible options. Browse allows site visitors to organically explore information by clicking through categories and subcategories and expanding relevant resources.
  • Search. An intelligent and easy-to-use search function is the backbone of the directory. We created a highly customizable search function with autocomplete that allows users to refine searches by county, population served (e.g. aging, indigenous), and insurance/payment options. Search results are presented in an expandable accordion, displaying all options clearly and succinctly but with clear pathways to accessing more detailed information.
  • Find My Local. The directory houses a huge amount of resources, and most visitors only want to see results relevant to their local area. “Find My Local” allows visitors to pre-select their county, tailoring the information presented to them throughout their time on site.
  • Print. A large proportion of site visitors don’t have internet access in their homes, and rely on take-home hard copies of information provided to them by ADRC staff members. For these visitors, we focused on optimizing resources for printing, and added a feature to create a “My Resource List” page that collates multiple resources, ready for printing.
  • Contact. Less independent site visitors don’t want to be overwhelmed by information; they just need to surface a relevant contact number, fast. The filterable “Contact” directory makes it easy to drill down and find the contact information of the nearest relevant ADRC, without having to navigate to external sites. 
     
"Assistance for Caregivers" webpage from the Aging and Disability Resource Center (ADRC). It details caregiver support services (adult day services, camps, caregiver support/groups, location tracking, respite care) and offers search functionality for local/tribal resources via county or tribal nation selection, with result filtering options. A specific search result for "Alzheimer's Family and Caregiver Support Program" is also visible, including contact information and options to add it to a list or view m

Delivery with proven user satisfaction

Ahead of the 2025 public launch, we delivered the new application, featuring:

  • Revamped ADRC homepage based off DHS Wisconsin style guidelines/custom USDWS framework, to ensure accessibility compliance and provide cohesive UX across the website
  • Directory of 9,300+ ADRC resources organized into landing pages of categories and subcategories, as determined by user research and tree sort testing
  • Automated API integration between the Drupal site and ADRC database

We also conducted extensive usability testing, giving Wisconsin residents access to a development environment. These visitors were given a list of tasks achieved on the new site in real time, and talked us through their process.

The results of the testing were extremely encouraging. “The biggest project success for me was the positive feedback during testing,” Jennifer commented. “One gentleman was so excited— he gave us his contact information and asked us to reach out when the site goes live. He told us he’s going to notify all of his friends when the directory is available.”

This new site profoundly opens up disability and aging resources to Wisconsin’s population. The ability to self-service directly on the site not only empowers more independent site visitors, it also alleviates the workloads of hard-working ADRC employees across the state.
 

664%

Increase in number of resources clicked 3 months post-launch

138%

Increase in page views on ADRC homepage 3 months post-launch

35%

Increase in average engagement time 3 months post-launch

Development designed to last

The new Virtual ADRC application was released to the public in January 2025. The ADRC has opted to continue working with Palantir post-launch to ensure a smooth handover to the internal team. Ahead of the launch, we focused on guaranteeing longevity. We worked on performance optimizations and configuration options in Drupal. These options will allow BADR staff to partially self-configure the backend and ensure the site remains resilient to software upgrades well into the future. 

“I’m really excited to have the site launch publicly,” Jennifer shared. “This is going to make such a difference for people— and Palantir really helped us to deliver that.” 

If you’re looking to deliver digital services that are accessible, performant, and designed with the needs of citizens and staff in mind, get in touch.

Image from ADRC homepage with headers "Who ADRCs serve" and "Experts who can guide you". The page has an illustration of a young child greeting two adults, one of whom is in a wheelchair.

Let’s work together.

Have an exceptional idea? Let's talk and see how we can help.
Contact Us