Client
Role
UX & Visual Design, Copywriting, Photography
Tools
Illustrator, Figma, InVision
Overview
I began working at Capitol Distributing while their new website was in the final stages of development. Unfortunately, the design they purchased only included one page for the developers to use as a basis, requiring them to make a large number of design choices. The old website contained proprietary information that was free for all visitors to view. The new site included a robust back-end for customized user accounts and very little information before you log in. However, the site now swung so far the other direction that there was almost no information for the casual visitor – not every prospective customer is going to contact the company to get a log in for the test account. This left many potential clients on the table.
The logged in portion (“portal”) was not created at all – once you hit ‘sign in’ you were back on the homepage with just subtle changes to the header – no additional links. I added the portal homepage system while it was under production but it was a patch of a solution. When going into the full redesign much of the structure was retained to save on re-development costs.
Research & Analysis
Through analysis of user trends as well as the company’s goals, user flows were created. To help inform the site architecture I created a list of 53 tasks a user might wish to perform on the website. I chose three local customers and two of our sales consultants to complete card sort exercises in order to see both things that should be organized together, as well as which items they would use most. This allowed me to organize the most important tasks and create an easy to use information architecture for the content of the site.
Discussion with users from each group (employees, vendors, customers, prospects, and retailers) provided information into their goals. Creating a detailed site architecture allowed me to establish which content was most important and ensure it was easy to access.
Design
Low fidelity wireframes were created, but other members of the team had a hard time getting past the idea of them being visually less developed. Creating detailed wireframes allowed me to both visually lay out the user flows in terms of navigational hierarchy and location as well as to convey this to other stakeholders.
All main screens were designed and reviewed and redesigned. Some feedback requests from within the company clashed with usability needs. For example, stakeholders wanted the only have the ‘eCommerce’ link (a tool customers utilize frequently) accessible within the portal when logged in to encourage customers to sign up. However, creating an account is a manual process due to the verification that each submission is an actual customer. Having the eCommerce link behind this wall would mean customers without accounts would have to wait up to 24 hours to use this tool. Even customers with an account will need to go through extra steps if that’s all they’re after. The compromise was to keep the link on the front page, but not in the header, and once a large percentage of customers have accounts it will be removed.
The final design and copy went through a few iterations and I think the final design stands out against the competition. It shows Capitol’s dedication to marketing, design, and service – all things that will benefit customers and prospects. It is clear and easy to navigate – information and resources are clearly visible due to a clear hierarchy and are located in accessible areas.
The development company for the original site no longer exists, so this project is in progress while a new developer is found.