Local business responsive redesign and rebranding
Retail
To redesign a MVP responsive UI interface and rebrand a local business, Venue Ballard.
UX Researcher, UX/UI Designer, Logo & Brand Identity
80 Hours
Venue Ballard, a small boutique in the heart of Seattle, needed a modern and responsive web design and logo. They specialize in one-of-a-kind products and artworks that customers seek out for themselves and as gifts. Before the pandemic, their website was more informational, but with the increased demand for an enhanced online experience, they needed a website to drive customers to buy online and/or in-store as well as to learn more about the artists they work with.
They were in need of a website that would drive their customers to buy online and/or in-store as well as learn about the artists they work with.
My initial goals for this project were to understand and identify usability issues on the current website through user research, create and validate potential design solutions for a responsive website, communicate my thinking and process, and deliver a new logo and responsive website design to the client, Venue Ballard.
Project Deliverables:
Key Features:
My initial goals for this project were to understand and identify usability issues on the current website through user research, create and validate potential design solutions for a responsive website, etc.
Through my research, there was a strong desire for a simplified web design based on the old design. 83% of the participants were frustrated with the overall design or functionality of the old website. Users were not able to easily find the link to shop, were distracted by the heavy background imagery, and did not have a true direction to go while visiting the site. In my user research, I was able to capture some very specific feedback regarding the old design as it stood.
Through my survey, I discovered some very interesting facts that would help steer the rest of this project to what it became.
83% of the participants were frustrated with the overall design or functionality of the old website.
Venue has several competitors in Seattle. Each of them carries a variety of handmade goods by artists, however, each has a varying point of difference.
None of the competitors highlighted the artists they work with quite as well as Venue, however, each competitor had a user friendly website with clear CTAs.
Some offered profiles, others rewards programs. Some competitors maintain blogs and show off their top sellers while others offer a 15% discount when signing up for their newsletter. In my user research,
Etsy was the number one shopped website for unique gifts and many mentioned how easy the interface was.
None of the competitors highlighted the artists they work with quite as well as Venue, however, each competitor had a user friendly website with clear CTAs.
Ari is the Creative Director for a local Marketing Firm. She lives in the Ballard neighborhood of Seattle, WA, with her husband and son. She has always been drawn to the arts and has grown her awareness in environmental protection and the small things we can do to help.
Ari prefers small batch, locally made products, nothing mass produced. If she is shopping for a gift, she works to find unique handmade products or artwork. Her 2 favorite stores in Seattle are Venue Ballard and the Handmade Showroom. The former has a slight leg up due to the nearby location.
Ari prefers small batch, locally made products, nothing mass produced. If she is shopping for a gift, she works to find unique handmade products or artwork.
Once all research concluded, I moved on to create the sitemap for Venue. One big focus was to keep it simple while providing enough information for the user to shop with ease. “Shopping” & “Artists” were to be the highlight and the easiest links to get to.
I split the sitemap up into 2 categories, Main Nav & Utility Nav to help keep things cleaner and more streamlined.
One big focus was to keep it simple while providing enough information for the user to shop with ease. “Shopping” & “Artists” were to be the highlight and the easiest links to get to.
Once the Sitemap was complete, I needed to ensure the flow of purchasing an item would be easy to navigate and smooth to get through.
I put this User Task Flow together as a good visual for the steps the user would need to take to purchase an item.
I needed to ensure the flow of purchasing an item would be easy to navigate and smooth to get through.
In conducting exploratory research, I discovered one of the city’s slogans from 1942 was “City of Flowers” and also that the city’s official flower is a Dahlia. To incorporate the “All Art.” portion of the tagline, I explored a variety of ways to include the “7 elements of art” (color, form, line, shape, space, texture, and value).
The new logo for Venue was created out of a culmination of meanings while not straying too far from the original logo. Using their tagline, All Local. All Art.”, I wanted to incorporate the city of Seattle in the design in some way.
The new logo for Venue was created out of a culmination of meanings while not straying too far from the original logo. The flower represents the city of Seattle, the 7 petals represent the 7 elements of art, and the 2 darkened petals represent the V in Venue.
The Style Guide and UI Design Kits were created based on user and competitive research as well as implementing the client’s color desires. The fonts chosen compliment the logo and the icons were kept minimal as to not distract from the other design elements.
The color palette for Venue was pulled together using orange, black, and white as the primary colors, per the client, and I added, complementary colors, dark browns, and a few neutrals for variety.
The Style Guide and UI Design Kits were created based on user and competitive research as well as implementing the client’s color desires. The fonts chosen compliment the logo and the icons were kept minimal as to not distract from the other design elements.
Now, having all the research complete, requirements from the client, sitemap, user task flow and rebranding complete, it was time to start building out the star of the show.
There were a few things that were very important to the client to include an easy way to “shop”, an easy way to get to the artists section, the “about us” section needed to be prominent with photo gallery included, and that Instagram should be highlighted wherever possible since their followers are very reactive to Instagram posts. The client had a preference for orange, black, and white to keep the focus on the artwork.
There were a few things that were very important to the client to include an easy way to “shop”, an easy way to get to the artists section, the “about us” section needed to be prominent with photo gallery included, and that Instagram should be highlighted wherever possible.
The overall UI design work was kept simplistic and modern while ensuring the artists and their work stood out. There are multiple ways to search for products and artists alike.
The featured artist is the first that is highlighted beyond the hero. With the rise in popularity of YouTube and process sharing, this section includes a video to show that artist’s process or introduction. This section is designed to change bi-monthly or monthly to help keep the page fresh and allow Venue to keep their artists rotating for the public.
Going further through the landing page, I included a section to browse through the artists, browse recent Instagram posts, and a section to highlight their special events should they choose to host “Monthly Mingle Mixers” where artists would be present to answer questions or simply talk about their work with customers.
The overall UI design work was kept simplistic and modern while ensuring the artists and their work stand out.
Once the intial UI design was complete, I set up a user test in Maze. Through this user testing, I discovered that users really enjoyed the clean and simple interface of the new UI design. In addition, I learned of a few needed updates. Since this site could be used as a “gift-buying” website, users suggested adding an option to apply a “gift” tag to the item along with a gift message and gift wrapping. They also suggested a few other minor changes that were implemented; some to include more information on the benefits of becoming a member, cleaning up the “Buy Now” and “Continue to Checkout” buttons, and reducing the number of buttons through the checkout process to name a few.
Through this user testing, I discovered that users really enjoyed the clean and simple interface of the new UI design.
This product and branding redesign helped to focus in on the shopping experience and highlight artists throughout the site. The interface was kept simple and was able to increase the satisfaction of the users while also satisfying the client’s desires.
The final product maintained a modern and easy to use design while allowing the products and artists to shine.
Through testing, users were vocal about enjoying the new design and shopping experience which made it a great success. This project gave Venue Ballard a new and revived shopping experience for their customers that will give them a similar feeling when shopping in their store.
The interface was kept simple and was able to increase the satisfaction of the users while also satisfying the client’s desires.
