The challenge
The splash page for the Prime Minister of Canada is one of the most visible surfaces in the federal government. Even small changes carry reputational risk and require alignment across multiple senior stakeholders. It also has a representational role for the public, helping ensure Canadians feel seen and included in how their Prime Minister represents the country’s leadership.
When I first joined the Privy Council Office as Web Team Lead for the Prime Minister of Canada's website, the splash page redesign had already been stalled for months.
Stakeholders weren't satisfied with the proposed design direction and couldn't agree on a hero image. No option felt broadly acceptable or “safe” enough to move forward, and every image introduced tradeoffs that prevented consensus.
My approach and solution
After listening to the client and my public service colleagues, I realized they were each trying to optimize for different things.
The client wanted a more modern design, with imagery that presented the Prime Minister as approachable and engaged, reflecting his connection to Canadians across the country. My public service colleagues were focused on maintaining an appropriately institutional and non-partisan statesmanlike presentation. They were trying to satisfy competing objectives with a single photograph.
I partnered with a UI designer to reimagine the splash page with a more modern, accessible visual direction, using photography, white typography and branding elements, and a dark overlay to provide sufficient colour contrast for readability.
I also challenged the assumption that we were limited to one image. I called our lead web developer and asked if it would be feasible to have the image change upon page refresh, because using a curated set of images would allow us to represent a broader range of contexts and perspectives. We tested it out and decided to use image coordinates to make sure the prime minister remained appropriately positioned on the screen across devices.
Our proposed design and rotate-upon-refresh approach was welcomed by the client and this was Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's splash page from 2018 through to the end of his tenure as prime minister in 2025.
Outcome
The project moved from months of stalled discussion to launch
Stakeholder alignment improved by reducing perceived risk through expanding the solution space
The solution was simple to maintain and required no ongoing operational overhead
The final experience better reflected the breadth of the role and its public context
Reflection
This reinforced for me that many design problems are actually constraint and decision problems.
When a team is stuck, expanding the solution space—rather than optimizing within an assumed constraint—can be what enables progress.