The primary objective of this project was to take a local business’s existing site and redesign the website and identity. Using wireframes, site maps, and user personas, we created a fully comprehensive web plan to re-design the client's site. I chose a local garden and nursery center that had an outrageously outdated and confusing website and used my skills as a web designer to create a brand new web experience for the client.
After identifying the client's site, we created a strong user-centered design structure that would help lay out the foundations of the site. This included the navigation system, information, content, and store page, and if needed, a new brand re-design. After that, we would program the site and test to see if our re-design is successful in meeting these user-centered goals.
Audience:
Gardeners, families, parents, and private landscapers.
Since the project's main objective is to redesign a selected website. I’ve decided to also redesign the main logo and brand identity of Echter’s Gardens. The old identity is extremely outdated and lacks consistency, especially once seen living inside the web space. This inconsistency results in a loss of connection and familiarity with the brand and its services. Redesigning the identity was a must in this case and doing so helped unify the major visual systems that the redeveloped website will contain.
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Using the user as the primary focus in this project, we were able to create a system of information that helps us as designers create the appropriate direction for the website’s re-design. Using journey maps, personas, and site maps, helped us paint a straightforward direction that was more beneficial for the user compared to the current site’s horrendous navigation.
What made this a unique learning experience was the use of a user-centered system to creating a systematic approach to how the user would feel and use the website. It was also a great opportunity to compare the old website’s structure to the re-designed website and to see where the focus of the user creates a more comfortable web flow.
This project was made earlier in my design pursuits and its challenges truly pushed me to deepen my understanding of user-centered design principles. I now understand just how important the prosses of design is compared to the final results. If we cannot refine the design in the first early stages of its creation, we won't be able to have a structurally sound design that can withstand both time and the user’s ability to unintentionally break the design.
