Micronesia's public finances, easier to find and follow
A new website for the Federated States of Micronesia's Department of Finance and Administration, built for its own staff to run.
The need
Who they needed to reach
Citizens, businesses and importers across Chuuk, Kosrae, Pohnpei and Yap, suppliers bidding for government work, and the Congress, state governments and development partners who follow FSM's public finances
What stood in the way
The Department's work touches almost everyone in the country, from income tax and customs to the national budget, procurement and financial reporting. That work is spread across four divisions and four state finance offices. People needed one reliable place to find a service, a form or a report, often on a phone.
What success looked like
Anyone able to find a service, a form or a financial report on the Department's website, on any device, and the Department's own staff keeping it current.
How we met the need
The answer was to organise the website around what people come to do, not around the Department's structure. Services, documents, state finance offices and the way to ask for help or give feedback are each one step from the homepage, and the site is designed for a phone first. A document library holds the Department's reports, forms and legislation, and search reaches all of it.
Built around what people come to do
Find your state office, a division, a service or a report, each one step from the homepage.
The process
The Department of Finance and Administration came to us to replace its website as part of the Project for Strengthening Public Financial Management. We set the goal by the people the Department serves: citizens, businesses and partners across four island states, who need to find a service, a form or a report quickly, often on a phone. Working with the project manager and communications specialist, we reviewed the existing site, the Department’s needs and comparable government websites, and carried over all the content worth keeping.
We presented three design directions, and the Department’s team chose one. We refined it with them around the things people use most: search, the key service pages and the document library. The site leads with what people come to do. Each of the six core services has its own page, each state’s finance office is one step from the homepage, and the way to ask for help or give feedback sits at the foot of every page.
We built the site on WordPress with templates for news, documents, events and resources, so staff can publish without technical help. The Department’s team received training and a step-by-step user manual, and we handed over the code, database, maintenance plan and security settings. The Government of the Federated States of Micronesia owns the website, its content and its domain outright, so its future does not depend on any outside provider. We continue to support the site, keeping it secure and current.
How it ran
- 01First conversation
We set the goal by the people the Department serves: anyone able to find what they need on any device.
- 02Discovery
We reviewed the existing site and the Department's needs against government websites elsewhere, and kept every piece of content worth keeping.
- 03Design
The Department chose one of three design directions, and we refined it with their team around search, key pages and the document library.
- 04Build and produce
Built on WordPress with page templates, so staff publish news, documents and events without technical help.
- Aug 202505Launch and handover
The site, its code, database and documentation were handed over to the Department, which owns all of it.
What the client got
People across the four FSM states can now find a service, a state finance office, a form or a financial report on one website, on a phone as easily as on a desktop. The Department's own staff publish news, documents and events themselves, and the Government owns the site, its code and its domain outright.
Visit the live site ↗Ongoing technical support from ThinkTeam, under a maintenance plan covering security updates, backups, content reviews and annual refresher training for staff.
Support and hosting →THINKTEAM completed the project on time and to specification, delivering a professional and accessible website that now serves as a central communication hub for the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) Department of Finance and Administration (DoFA).
Alvaro Hoyos Ramos, FSM Department of Finance & Administration
