SOLARWINDS
Website Redesign
My Role
Project Lead / Senior UX Designer in a team of three
Client Team
Marketing, UX, SEO, and Creative teams
Duration
1 year (Jan - Dec 2024)
Scope
Time and materials project. Activities included usability testing, competitive analysis, UX audit, site mapping, wireframes, visual concepts, visual design of key screens, prototype, design system integration, iterations, mentorship of their UX team
The Big Win
After two years of false starts and frustration, my team successfully identified core issues for the client and helped solve them. After nine months, Phase One of the new site was launched.
SolarWinds provides IT management software that helps businesses monitor, manage, and gain visibility into their IT environments.
The Interesting Bits…
This was no standard site redesign. During our client project kickoff call, I noticed an underlying layer of frustration and discouragement because they had been working on this project for over two years and hadn’t made any headway.
First, I listened and noted where frustrations peaked. Next, we started out as we would on any project, with discovery. We learned they didn’t have use cases outlined. If the basics aren’t covered, then there really isn’t a foundation to the project.
This step felt like going back to the beginning for the client team but that’s exactly what we needed to do to move forward.
The project had no foundation
There was no journey represented on the site
The site map was linear with lots of page repetition and dead ends. The homepage hero was prompting users to make a purchase immediately. Our generative user research showed that mainly potential users visited the site, so asking them to buy something when they’re in the research phase was inappropriate. Defining how we wanted to lead the user through their journey on the site became our next big focus.
My team discovered the project blocker and resolved it successfully
When working on the future state map and main navigation wireframes, we hit dead end after dead end. The team couldn’t confidently define their site categories. Terms like “product" and ”platform” had nebulous definitions. They mentioned their internal stakeholders and how they didn’t align with them at all. This was my team’s big aha moment. If the company can’t define what they are trying to sell, how can we sell anything?
We proposed getting the client team and their internal stakeholders in a room to discuss these key terms. I planned and led a 3-hour workshop that gave space for each person to write and discuss the term definitions and for open conversation. This was a turning point in the project. The exercise showed everyone that they weren’t as far out of alignment as they initially thought.
The client team paused the project for about three weeks so they could finish the definitions discussion internally. When they came back to us, their vision, goals, and story were clear.
Iteration is expected but if it goes on for too long on the same feature, there’s a deeper issue
Iteration is an important part of the process. In addition to integrating department goals properly, we had to revive the site with fresh patterns. Much of the client team had been there a long time so certain website patterns were “tired” and needed a glow up. Iterations should be moving the ball forward with each round, and did once we got past the main navigation. Before the workshop, the main navigation iterations were unfocused and changed wildly each time, which indicated to my team that there was a deeper problem that needed to be addressed.
As a leader, I know that a project is only successful if there is collaboration
While designing concepts with the existing branding for the new look and feel of the site, it became clear their lead creative wanted to give his two cents. Instead of claiming complete ownership of the process, we kept the door open for him to participate and explore his own designs. When the components were decided upon by the client team, I married our homepage designs together and made sure it followed UX best practices.
We did it! The site redesign went live.
The client received fully thought out designs of nine key page templates, main and sub navigations, two reusable page components, CTA variants, a guide to how colors should be applied, and a future state map to work from. We used their existing design system that the client UX team owned and grids so the transition into their library was seamless.
Our last client meeting literally had them in happy tears. It was a long journey for them; I’m glad that I could help bring them down the road to success!
A Real Client Review
Want to know more?
Contact me at linwincreative@gmail.com