Phoenix Prioritized Residents Over Departments
Wilson said the redesign required a shift away from organizing content around internal structures and toward a resident-first model.
“One thing that I noticed early on was, you look at what was prioritized on the home page. And it generally was elected official priorities and not necessarily resident priorities,” he said.
After reviewing usage analytics, Phoenix restructured homepage and navigation elements based on the services residents most frequently accessed. That approach required internal alignment.
“We had to be really vigilant and push back against leadership — to say, no, the reason that these things are at the top of the page is because they are the reasons our residents are coming here,” Wilson said.
The adoption of Adobe DX tools also improved internal workflows. Wilson said that staff members who previously relied on IT support to publish updates can now make changes directly within AEM.
He noted that making a simple change to the website, which used to take 45 minutes, could now be done in seconds.
The streamlined authoring environment has reduced bottlenecks and standardized content across departments.
“That is worth it 10 times over for what we put into this project,” Wilson said.
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Phoenix Optimized for AI-Driven Search
Artificial intelligence (AI) and generative tools were elements of a recurring theme at the Adobe forum, and Wilson said Phoenix is already seeing measurable changes in how residents discover services.
“For the first time, ChatGPT is now in our top 10 referral sources for our website,” he said.
That shift has prompted the city to focus on generative engine optimization, structuring content so AI systems pull accurate information directly from phoenix.gov rather than from third-party sources.
“We want to make sure that we are not only optimizing SEO but also GEO,” Wilson said. “We want the information to be accurate. We want it pulled from our site, not from some other site.”
By consolidating its digital presence on Adobe’s DX platform, Phoenix positioned itself to better manage content consistency, accessibility and machine readability as AI-driven search becomes more prevalent.
Wilson said the project reflects the broader commitment of public-sector employees to improving service delivery.
“It’s such a pleasure to come and work in an environment where people are so passionate about helping their community,” he said. “They care about their community and they want to make a difference. They want the lives of our citizens to be better. And I’m so happy to be a part of that every day.”
