TBO Website Redesign

Synopsis

The Business Office (TBO) is looking to update their website to compliment their upcoming marketing push. After several meetings with the management team, I proposed a design that aligns closely with their needs as a company.

Research

As the lone designer on the project, I felt it was important to have a clear understanding of what the expectations were for the website. Before starting the design, I sat down with the management team to determine both the needs of the site users as well as TBO's needs for the website. I learned that the website was meant to function simply as an online brochure for prospective clients and to highlight TBO's relationship with one of their new business partners. My initial research included looking at competitor websites to find the strengths, weaknesses and commonalities of each. I also went through TBO's log of prospective client calls to learn the most common types of information that users were looking for. Knowing the needs allowed me to begin designing the site with a clear focus on what to include as well as what to leave out.

Site Design

During early meetings with the team, I encouraged them to verbalize what they wanted the look of the site to say about TBO. They wanted the site to be clean, give the sense that TBO was knowledgable and emphasize that the company was local to the Seattle area. The team also expressed a desire for the site layout to mimic their partner's website. I presented the team with three original mockups and a fourth based on their partner's site with permission. The shots below show the site before and after the redesign.

Before

After

The new site has been based on the fourth design and early feedback from the team was positive. Full implementation of the new site will occur soon.

Project Management

The TBO management team understands their business and the marketplace far better than I do, so I approached the design as a social process. As a result, I was able to leverage their knowledge and use it to guide my design choices. Design meetings have been run with me providing a structure in which a lot of back and forth of ideas has taken place. While I never want to discourage the management team from exploring ideas, having a framework has allowed the design momentum to keep moving forward until we have reached a solution that everyone is happy with. Additionally, I have given the management team tasks such as writing some of the site content to match their other marketing material.