What do we offer?
Some sites work well, but just do not perform as well as they should. We offer services that are aimed specifically at sites that need to be improved, but a full redesign is not required (or is just not possible). In particular, we can help improve sites that rely on key areas of functionality like a shopping basket and checkout system, are particularly large and complex like an intranet, or simply provide access to vast information resources. Often, design improvement will bring considerable benefits without the time and budget required for a full redesign.
Our services can include:
- Evaluating your current site to identity critical functional areas, bottle-necks, or barriers.
- Running customer focus groups to assess real-world reactions to your existing site, and to identify areas that customers may be struggling with.
- Inventing and prototyping new approaches to key functional areas, and testing them on customers as required.
- Simplifying overly-complex areas and removing obstacles that adversely affect usability.
- Modifying site-wide components (like navigation systems) to bring improvements to all areas of the site when required.
- Improving content like written descriptions and iconography to ensure that the site is easy to understand and navigate visually.
- Developing standards-compliant code for new site components where required.
- Testing new approaches with customers, from paper prototyping through to full lab testing and focus groups as required.
- Briefing your internal teams and running internal workshops to ensure your entire organisation is fully behind the new design.
- Running periodic reviews with you to monitor performance and 'tweak' key areas to reflect ongoing customer behaviour.
Why should you improve what you have?
Sometimes you simply need to redesign your whole site to bring about real improvement. However, numerous sites can be improved substantially without such dramatic changes.
Here are some of the reasons why design improvement can work well:
- Budget: you don't have budget to redesign the whole site, but still need to make the site better. Improving a few key areas can have dramatic effects on performance.
- New service: you need to add a new service into your current offer and will need to adapt the site to incorporate it.
- Customer complaints: you have been receiving feedback from customers that they find your site confusing or difficult to use.
- Key performance indicators: some critical aspects of your site's usage are below what you need them to be (for example, too many people add products to their basket but do not complete checkout, or too many searches are performed with zero results).
Frequently asked questions.
- How do I identify what needs improvement?
We can do that for you. We can usually identify key areas requiring improvement quickly and easily, but sometimes more detailed studies may be required. This will take the form of focus groups or usability studies, both of which can help build a clearer view of how your customers are actuallly using your site. We can also review site statistics and other performance data you may have to help identify where issues lie.
- I know what's wrong with my site - now what?
Often, for a variety of reasons, you'll know yourself where problems lie. In this case we can take a simple brief from you and work on redesigning the affected areas of your site immediately.
- Can you work with my existing technology platform?
Yes. We'll work within the constraints of whatever technology platform you currently use and design improvements that fit in with the rest of your site.
- Can you work with my existing site design?
Generally, yes. The whole point of this type of project is to bring about improvements without redesigning everything. Sometimes, we can even apply site-wide design improvements without requiring a full redesign - it really depends on your existing site and how it has been designed and constructed.
