In order to find a better form of organization for the website, our team created cards representing the available pages of the website to be sorted out into a more cohesive structure. During our card sorting user tests, we faced the challenge of deciding on a definitive site map due to the different and compelling nature of each proposed structure.
As a team, we needed to compromise, blending various elements to create a site map that balances functionality and user expectations.
We began the prototyping process by using our research data and sketching out our own takes on the website’s layout, afterwards collaborating and turning our best ideas into a clickable prototype.
Our team then transformed our sketch prototype into lofi wireframes to better represent the future user interface and enhance our user testing with a form that was closer to our final product.
Our early iterations played with the concept of utility management, but we soon realized this idea lacked innovation and failed to solve the core problem. After further exploration, we arrived at our final solution: SafeTags. This IoT device was more aligned with the core user needs of quick, reliable communication and safety during emergencies.
Our Lo-Fi User Test Criteria:
Six users were tasked with testing a low-fidelity prototype. They were given three tasks to complete:
Click on Upcoming Events and Past Performances
Click on an artist name in the Event Calendar
Use the Menu to navigate to other pages and explore
The Results:
Users had 100% success rate with all three tasks.
Users wanted the size of the text to be larger on mobile for easier reading.
Users believe the menu is very helpful, however they wanted a home button.
Users say that having footer contact information is important to them, but any extra information is unnecessary.
Users asked for the calendar to be scrollable and large.
Users would like to see more images on the About page.
Our team was excited with the positive outcome of our new user tests but noted that there were still many improvements that could be made. Following the feedback from user testing we redesigned the calendar with increased font size for better readability and improved the scrolling functionality. We also rearranged the footer design, categorizing links for easy navigation, such as contact details and social media links.
Our Hi-Fi User Test Criteria:
Five users were tasked with testing a high-fidelity prototype. They were given three tasks to complete:
Click on Upcoming Events and Past Performances
Click on an artist name in the Event Calendar
Use the Menu to navigate to other pages and explore
The Results:
Users wanted to see more events on the calendar, however the past events made them feel sad about missing out.
Users notes the homepage had a scroll reset issue that didn’t allow the user to scroll down without resetting the position at the top.
Users had varied comments about the images, font sizes, and layout.
Users wanted more control with the image carousel. They wanted to be able to click through the images themselves.
Designing for an established brand
Redesigning the Elephant Room’s online presence was a fairly straightforward process as most content that was necessary already existed. What the website needed was reorganization, improved accessibility, and better aesthetics.
What Could've Been Done Better
Our team could have benefited from connecting with the stockholders for more in depth design direction.
Lack of time and time management became an issue, leaving some planned iterations on the drawing board.
New Discoveries
Over the course of the project our team gained valuable new insights both regarding our design work/workflow and our interpersonal communication skills.
Working on the redesign allowed us as team members to pinpoint our strengths as well as skills that we need to improve on moving forward.