Specialist Brickwork Contractor
Website Redesign Project
About The Project
This was an exiting project creating a website to showcase a brickwork companies projects & services.
S&L Contracts already had a website but it was no longer meeting their needs. They wanted a modern update to their site using simplistic styling and effective imagery to capture their users attention and lead to increased enquires.
Web design Process
This is the general process followed for design projects. Each client can vastly vary on their needs, requiements and expectations so generally each project will be different and require more/less steps. This is something I personally love about the process as no one job is the same as the last and you have to be able to adapt to each situtation.
- Find out more about project / client needs & expectations
- Project definition
- Understanding business & user goals
- Problem definition
- Project scope
- Define the Information Architecture of the site to ensure everything is presented in a logical and useful way
- Create a user flow diagram to visualise the structure
- Design low fidelity wireframes to gain initial feedback of layouts
- Convert low to high fidelity designs and prototype once structure and design has been agreed
- Content will be gathered and added to the designs
- Once designs have been signed off development will begin using HTML, Wordpress, Shopify - whatever was agreed with the client
- Site will be tested and feedback gathered to ensure it meets expectations and any final changes can be made
- Site will be deployed & made live
- Continuous maintenance and updates as user needs
Discovery
When first meeting with the client we discussed the problems they were currently facing with their website and the reason they wanted an update.
S&L Contracts work predominantly in London meaning the clients they attract and want to target are high end and expect top quality work. They wanted to reflect this in their website by giving it a very professional and sleek look. An important aspect of this project was the content and imagery used so I worked alongside a photographer who was contracted to take drone photos and videos of the buildings. This meant we were closely aligned on what was required for the site to ensure targets were met.
UX Audit of old site
Identifying issues & improve design.
Accessibility
The strong orange background was not only distracting but made the site inaccessible due to the harsh contrast in colours.
Structure
From user testing and aligning with the overal business goal of ensuring the projects was the main focal point of the site the old structure was not addressing that.
Imagery & Content
The images used did not feel unique to the business and gave it a generic feel. By including high quality images and videos of buildings this will enhance the overal brand and feel of the site.
Site Architecture & Wireframes
As the site was already designed we used that as a base to see if how it was currently structured was the most effective way and if users could understand it.
After completing a UX Audit which helped to identify the areas where the current site was failing and ways that could be improved. The overal UI would be updated to a more accessible and modern colourscheme and the projects would be brought to the front of the IA so that they are easily accessed by users. Information such as the about us section is important but should not have been shown as the first thing when user enters the site.
Site Development
Once designs were agreed upon the site was built in Wordpress. The client had requested this so thaty they could maintain and make changes themselves once the main build was complete.
Key Takeaways
This was a very enjoyable and exciting project to be part of. I always feel so privilaged when clients choose to work with me and put my all into the work so that they are pleased with the outcome. A thing I liked the most about this job was the ability to work accross many different areas from branding, UI/UX design, web development, photo & video editing. The client was great to work with and this is a job that is ongoing.
A highlight of the project was travelling to London to capture content and meeting with the client.