ALEXANDER BÜRKLE
This project involved the transformation of a company from a partner to an enabler. My role in this was to a) create a concept and structure for the new website and b) to work out requirements and a concept for the later product, a platform where the user would be able to observe, plan and manage their business and projects.
ANALYSIS OF STATUS QUO
One of the very first steps within the progress, was to analyse the current website. I created an thorough Information Architecture of the website and compared it with traffic data in order so see what content was relevant for the user and how a new website structure might look like. Based on this and considering how the brand wanted to establish itself, a new information architecture and wireframes were created. Since we started with the website first, but would be implementing the platform later it was very important to not only keep responsiveness and different devices in mind, but to use functionalities and iconography that would also work on a platform in order to guarantee a consequent user experience and an easy understanding.
DEFINING GOALS AND UNDERSTANDING THE USER
Key to designing both the website and the platform, was to get all people on the same page about what product we were creating, who the target group was, what their needs were, what the product was supposed to be doing and finally, what the business goals were. We did this by developing a Product Vision Board with the client, where we put down the answers to these questions after doing interviews and research.
Furthermore, we conducted workshops in order to understand the user, the daily processes they are going through and how our product might help them in this. We used User Story Mapping for this and in the end we had a very thorough journey with single steps on one level, and detailed features on another. Finally each participant had the chance to vote for what they thought was the most important feature. Based on this voting we then worked out a roadmap, considering Must-Haves and Nice-To-Haves as well feasibility in terms of timing, finances and technology.
COLLABORATIVE TeamWORK and Red Dot Award
As an interdisciplinary team, we used tools such as Zeplin and Confluence to delivery designs and technical specifications. With these tools we were able to closely work with frontend, backend and the client themself. The design was supposed to be flexible and modular, so that the client would be independently able to create pages based on the content available. We therefore defined a set of basic and special modules, with which we designed the key screens. Those screens also served as example of how to use modules and build pages. My part in the UI process was rather advisory, since I knew the project and client best for I had been working on it the longest. I also made sure that the design would support a good user guidance and usability.
Alexander Bürkle won several Red Dot Awards in four categories. Two of them being “Brand Design & Identity” and “Relaunch, Online” of which the newly created website was a huge part, and to which I highly contributed.
Learnings
As the only UX Designer of this team, I had the opportunity to be involved at a very early stage and to work very directly with the client. By working closely with the Art Director, I also grew in taking different perspectives into account. I had the chance to evolve my experiences in planing and conducting workshops, and learned new methods to understand the user’s journey. Furthermore this project taught me how to create and plan products as part of a new business strategy, how to organize and support my team and how to not get lost in highly complex projects. Last but not least I learned, what I really love about projects: A user centric approach that truly and deeply tries to understand and solve the needs of the user, a highly motivated and interdisciplinary team where everybody contributes, and being able to explore my own role and to take up responsibility for me, my team and our work.