A web design agencies perspective
The recent revelations around the Bureau of Meteorology’s (BOM) newly redesigned website – now reported to have cost around $96.5 million – have understandably sparked national debate. ABC
As a web design and development agency, MyWork watched this story closely. While the scale of the cost blowout is deeply concerning, we also know first-hand how complex large government web projects can become – and how creeping scope, technical demands, and stakeholder pressures can all conspire to turn what sounds like a straightforward “redesign” into a major engineering overhaul.
Here’s our take: what went wrong, what likely drove the cost, and how organisations (public and private) can avoid similar pitfalls in future web projects.
BOM redesign story highlights
- Massive Cost Overrun
- Originally, BOM publicly stated that the website redesign cost $4.1 million.
- Now, new reporting reveals the total is roughly $96.5 million, including backend system rebuild, security testing, and infrastructure upgrades.
- That’s not just a design refresh – it’s a full tech transformation.
- Explaining the Overspend
- According to BOM, the extra cost isn’t just about visuals.
- They point to a need for upgraded backend infrastructure, security hardening, and handling of vast weather-data flows – all of which are technically demanding and expensive.
- The new CEO has also said the project was part of a wider “ROBUST” program that addresses systemic IT resilience, not just the website front end.
- User Experience Backlash
- Users – including farmers and regional communities – have criticised significant usability issues.
- In response, BOM has already reverted some features (like the radar display) based on user feedback.
- There are serious concerns that the launch may have prioritised technical infrastructure over user-centred design.
Why this might have happened: An agency’s perspective
From where MyWork sits, several common pitfalls likely contributed to this outcome:
- Scope Creep & Ambitious Requirements
Large-scale projects – especially public-facing government sites – often evolve significantly from initial scoping. What starts as a UI redesign can morph into a full backend overhaul when stakeholders push for more features, tighter security, or data integrations. - Underestimating Complexity
Weather data systems are not simple: they need to handle real-time data, high traffic, forecasting models, and secure ingestion from remote sensors. Rebuilding the system under the hood is not trivial. - Vendor Management & Contract Scale
Reports suggest a major portion of the build contract went to large consultancies. Working with big firms can bring deep expertise, but also high cost, admin overhead, and layered project management. Without tight control, costs balloon. - Risk Under-Testing During Development
In many big projects, user testing (especially for accessibility, load, and edge cases) is not prioritised early enough. That can lead to usability issues post-launch – just as critics noted with BOM’s radar mapping and local forecast tools. - Public and Political Pressure
Government projects inherently carry public accountability. When costs escalate, the pressure is intense. Decisions made in haste, without robust QA or stakeholder alignment, can lead to public-facing failures.
How to avoid a similar blowout for future large-scale projects
Drawing on our own experience building complex sites and apps, here’s what organisations should do to avoid a BOM-style outcome:
- Invest Heavily in Scope Definition
- Establish a clear, phased roadmap up front.
- Define must-have features vs nice-to-have.
- Use prototypes or MVPs (minimum viable products) to validate assumptions before building everything.
- Prioritise User Testing from Day One
- Involve real users (including accessibility test groups) in early UX testing.
- Test performance under real-world load and data conditions.
- Build usability feedback loops into your launch plan.
- Use Transparent Vendor Models
- If hiring large consultancies, demand clarity on deliverables, personnel costs, and change management.
- Use fixed-price or hybrid contracts where possible, with clear KPIs and performance milestones.
- Architect for Scale and Resilience
- Design infrastructure not just for today’s traffic, but for peak usage and future features.
- Make security, data integrity, and uptime non-negotiable.
- Governance & Budget Discipline
- Ensure continuous executive, stakeholder, and technical alignment.
- Use phased funding: don’t commit full budget before delivering early milestones.
- Set a change control process to manage scope creep.
It’s not all black & white
While the cost blowout is extremely concerning, it’s also important to recognise how difficult a project like this really is:
- The BOM is not just building a brochure website – it’s managing critical national infrastructure for data-heavy forecasting.
- The backend challenges – particularly around weather modelling, system resilience, and security – are not trivial.
- The decision to rebuild came after long delays in legacy systems, and was likely driven by real risks (e.g., cybersecurity, data integrity).
- Public scrutiny, usability demands from diverse user groups (farmers, scientists, emergency services), and political pressures all add complexity.
From our point of view, there’s a real risk that overly simplistic public commentary (“it’s just a website!”) underestimates the cloud, data, and infrastructure burden behind this system.
Lessons we can all learn
The BOM website redesign saga is a powerful case study for both institutions and agencies alike. It shows how easily costs can spiral when ambition, legacy systems, and public expectations collide – but also that these projects can be essential and ultimately valuable if managed well.
At MyWork, we believe in transparency, strong technical foundations, and continuous user-centered evaluation. These principles aren’t just about making beautiful websites – they’re about building systems that serve real people, reliably, for years to come.
This isn’t just a cautionary tale – it’s a reminder of how we can build better, smarter, and more accountable digital infrastructure together.