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Project Overview
Redesign and update the previous website to create a more intuitive, visually appealing and functional website.
Why Redesign:
The previous website faced challenges due to being text-heavy, which made navigation difficult, hindered content discoverability, and created a poor user experience. Users struggled to find key information, leading to frustration.
My Role: Strategy, UX/UI, Research
Duration: December'24 - Present
Company: Prakruthi Foundation
Approach
This project was tackled in three phases:
Research & Discovery: Domain Research, Competitor Analysis, Heuristic Analysis, User Research, and Stakeholder Interviews.
Ideation: Persona Development, Brainstorming ideas/themes for the website, Strategy Development.
Design: Iteration, User Flows, Wireframes, Low fidelity protypes, High Fidelity Screens.
Sneak Peek
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Research and Discovery
Goal:
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Asses the previous "Prakruthi Foundation" website to identify usability issues that conflict with known best practises.
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Utilize research findings to guide strategic and design decisions throughout the project.
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Research best practices within the domain to identify opportunities for differentiation and innovation.
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Collect user feedback to ensure their perspectives inform the design process and shape the overall strategy.
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Uncover underlying issues and complexities, while aligning with stakeholders’ vision of success for the website redesign.
Domain Research
Coming into this project, I had limited experience in the domain of sustainable travel. Therefore, my first step was to familiarize myself with the sustainable travel industry, including the various eco-friendly travel options and platforms that focus on responsible tourism. I explored the different types of sustainable travel offerings, such as eco-friendly accommodations, carbon offset programs, and green transportation solutions.
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Competitor Analysis
The competitor analysis focused on understanding the landscape of sustainable travel platforms. It involved evaluating four key competitors based on multiple functionalities.
The analysis revealed that while competitors offer basic eco-friendly features such as sustainability filters and carbon offset programs, "The Travelling Turtles" aims to differentiate itself by providing a more personalized travel experience. This includes expert-led content like blogs, books, and podcasts. The insights gained from this analysis will guide in delivering a unique, user-friendly platform that better meets the needs of eco-conscious travelers.
Heuristic Analysis
The heuristic evaluation focuses on assessing the usability of the Prakruthi Foundation website in comparison to industry standards. This evaluation served as an essential step in understanding the user experience challenges of the previous site and identifying areas for improvement. Additionally, the heuristic analysis provided a framework for forming more targeted questions for future usability testing.
Key Touchpoints:
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Evaluate the Prakruthi Foundation website using Nielsen’s 10 usability heuristics to identify critical usability issues.
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Uncover areas for improvement and gather insights for the redesign to enhance user experience and overall site performance.
Previous Website snippets:
Homepage - No clear Purpose, no CTA.
Feedback page - Gives a Summary from users
Workshop Page - No Registration Button.
Book Page - Confusing Drop Down Menu
Foundational Study
User research is a cornerstone of UX design, with real user feedback being indispensable. User testing, which involves contextual observation, is essential for understanding user behaviors and needs.
After completing the heuristic evaluation, a series of contextual usability testing sessions were conducted to gain a clear understanding of user challenges, needs, and behaviors by asking task-based questions and performing contextual probes.
Usability Testing Results :
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All participants found the navigation bar interaction extremely challenging.
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4/5 participants asked for UI improvement.
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All participants had difficulty finding how to register for a workshop and disliked the process.
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2/5 participants were able to find information about workshops by using the contact/questions form.
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4/5 participants took more than 80 seconds to find "Order Book" option.
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All had difficulty finding the mission, purpose, and goals of Prakruthi Foundation
Gathering Insights from Users:
Conducted a mixed-methods survey, combining qualitative and quantitative questions.
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Link to the Prakruthi User Experience Survey:
Prakruthi_ux_survey_google_form -
Number of survey participants: 19 users
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Refer the excel sheet to view all answers by users:
Prakruthi User Experience Survey (Responses)
Ideation: Brainstorming and Iterating
Goal:
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Turn insights from the discovery phase into practical design solutions.
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Focus on addressing issues like navigation difficulties, inconsistent visuals, and poor content accessibility.
Ideation Summary:
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Brainstormed ways to simplify navigation, making key features like book orders, workshops, and events more visible and accessible.
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Worked on improving the website’s aesthetics, using consistent fonts, colors, and modernizing the footer for better organization.
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Additionally, tackled performance and search functionality issues by discussing how to improve responsiveness and make navigation tabs visible.
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Also explored integrating engaging content, such as travel tips, testimonials, and eco-friendly travel resources, based on user feedback.
Further, below actions were identified:
Analyze User Needs:
Assess what the users want to achieve on the website, such as booking events, finding travel tips, or accessing sustainable travel resources. This helps to prioritize features and functionality.
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Identify the Target Users:
Understand the different user personas interacting with the website, focusing on their needs and behaviors. This helps in tailoring the experience to address specific pain points.
Key Touchpoints:
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Identify Themes from Research Insights.
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Create a Visual Representation.
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Analyze the feedback and insights to find patterns that can drive design strategy.
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Use the collected data to create personas that represent the different types of users engaging with the website.
User Needs - Emerging Themes:
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Design Strategy:
User Personas:
​​Personas help us empathize with our target audience by representing the goals, frustrations, and behaviors of the users we are designing for.
In this project, the 2 personas created were not based on individual users but rather reflect the broader group of individuals who use the website.
Goals
Challenges
Suggestions for improvement
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Interested in learning new travel skills and signing up for Globetrotting workshops.
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Looking for travel tips, upcoming events, testimonials, and booking options on the Prakruthi website.
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Wants to get inspired for future trips and easily access travel-related resources and books.
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Navigation Issues: The main issue is a confusing navigation structure. Specifically, the navigation bar has non-clickable items and unclear categorization in the dropdown menu.This creates difficulty in finding relevant content such as upcoming events, travel tips, and workshops.
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Design Inconsistencies: The website has inconsistent design elements, such as differing fonts, colors, and spacing, which create a fragmented and jarring experience. This affects readability and aesthetics.
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Ordering Process for Books: The process to order books is not intuitive and could be made easier for users who want to purchase or preview books.
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Navigation Enhancements: Make sure all navigation items are clickable and ensure a consistent dropdown layout to allow for easier and smoother access to pages like "Upcoming Events" and "Workshops." A clearer categorization in the navigation menu would improve user flow.
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Design Consistency: Standardize design elements such as fonts, colors, and spacing to ensure a cohesive and professional look across the website. The footer should also be modernized and better organized.
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Improved Book Ordering Process: Streamline the book ordering process to make it simpler and more intuitive for users. Ensure that the option to buy or preview books is more prominent and easy to access.
Name: Smith
Name: Emily
Goals
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Looking for travel tips, reviews, and blogs, and interested in signing up for workshops.
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Wants to get inspired for future trips and explore resources like testimonials and videos/photos from past events.
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Needs easy access to travel-related information and workshops.
Challenges
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Navigation Confusion: The user had trouble understanding what parts of the website were clickable, which made it difficult to explore the content.
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Unclear Navigation and Website Structure: She found that the main navigation wasn’t intuitive, making it difficult to find key features such as booking workshops or ordering books.
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Lack of Clear Actionable Prompts: There was no clear prompt to guide the user to take specific actions like buying books or participating in workshops.
Suggestions for improvement
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Clearer Navigation: Redesign the navigation so that all interactive elements are clearly clickable. Ensure consistency across all menu items and dropdowns, providing clear indications of interactive elements.
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Guided Prompts: Include prominent CTAs (calls to action) for purchasing books or joining workshops, making them easy to find and navigate to. These can be placed in easily accessible sections such as the homepage or as banner notifications.
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Improved User Flow: Consider enhancing the user flow of the website to ensure users can easily move from browsing information (e.g., blog articles) to actionable tasks like signing up for workshops or ordering books.
Design Phase
Goal:
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To create site structure, wireframes, prototyes and high-fidelity screens.
Collaboration and Iteration:
In the design phase, collaboration and iteration played a critical role in refining the overall experience. It was essential to work closely with both stakeholders and users to gather continuous feedback and ensure the design aligned with their expectations. By iterating on ideas, prototypes, and UI elements, it was possible to explore different approaches and quickly pivot when needed.
This collaborative approach allowed to integrate valuable insights and ensure the design was user-centered and met both business goals and user needs. Regular check-ins with stakeholders helped to align the project’s direction, while user feedback provided a direct understanding of the experience we were crafting.
Key Touchpoints:
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Collaborate and Iterate: Continuously refine design ideas with the team.
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Create Wireframes: Develop basic structures and navigation flow.
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Design High-Fidelity Screens: Finalize UI with brand elements.
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Align UI with Branding: Ensure consistency in fonts, colors, and logos.
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Prototype and Test: Build and test interactive prototypes for feedback.
Site Structure:
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Wireframes:
During the wireframing stage, the goal was to create a basic structure of the website, focusing on layout, navigation, and user flow. Wireframes allowed to plan the site’s skeleton and test how users would interact with the core features. This step provided clarity on the website’s overall functionality before moving to high-fidelity designs.
Key Touchpoints:
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Define Layout and Structure: Plan the website’s basic layout, navigation, and key content sections.
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Test User Flow: Ensure the wireframe allows for smooth and intuitive navigation.
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Collaborate and Gather Feedback: Share wireframes with stakeholders and users to validate design decisions.
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High Fidelity Screen:
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In the high-fidelity screen design phase, Interactive elements and updates based on client feedback were integrated into the wireframes. This step enhanced the user interface and experience. The focus was on creating a more intuitive design that improved navigation and ensured smooth interactions across the site.
Main upgrades included:
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Added Interactive elements
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Added a mission statement and CTA button in the hero section to clarify the site’s purpose and guide users.
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Positioned the "Order Now" button on the homepage and reorganized the book section for easier navigation.
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Moved the workshops section for better visibility.
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Included detailed event information, interactive cards, and a simple registration form.
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Simplified the main navigation and restructured the testimonials section for better visibility and accessibility.
Key Touchpoints:
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Refine Interactive Components: Add interactive elements and gather client feedback to improve usability.
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Improve Navigation & User Flow: Ensure seamless and intuitive navigation through clear CTA placement and structured content.
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Gather Real-Time Feedback: Create an interactive prototype for testing and refine based on user feedback.
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Next Steps:
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Moving forward, the focus will be on developing the remaining pages, ensuring they align with the same user-centered design principles.
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Goal is to create a seamless and cohesive end-to-end experience across the entire site, with further iterations and testing based on user feedback to refine the design.
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Final launch of the full website is coming soon, and it will be rolled out once all pages are complete and thoroughly tested.