Working in Fiserv’s digital lending and origination org, I have lead the design creation of two revolutionary products from the ground-up: digital credit card and line of credit lending applications.

I lead an organization-wide research initiative to bring research methods into our product design and requirements gathering, pushing to stay ahead of trends while creating an accessible product that truly reflects the people’s needs. Because we operate under a B2B2c model, it was imperative to understand the needs of not just the end-users, but also the stakeholders for each financial institution.

Operating under a scaled agile framework, I work closely with product managers to gather requirements, my design team to create, test, and iterate, and the development team to ensure that designs can be created seamlessly to meet proper deadlines.

LA Performing Arts is a performing arts studio founded in San Antonio, TX in 2007. Upon my purchase of the business in 2015, I began working on a re-design to modernize the website and increase its capabilities to meet users needs. The goal: easy to navigate information on classes, schedule, and pricing and to integrate an online registration system.

Problem

Outdated design and layout

The website layout, colors, theme, and template made the business lose a feel of professionalism and quality. Font was very small — customers with poor vision complained frequently that they were unable to properly read class information and schedules. Little information on pricing and class breakdown was available online, which forced most users to have to call, email, or physically come in to the business to get answers to simple questions. Class registration information was unclear at best and non-existent at worst.

I set out to re-design the feel of the website — creating a design that would mirror the professionalism and quality found within the business. In order for customers to make the most informed decision about registering for classes, I increased the information that could be found on the website and added an online registration option so users could register and save a space in classes on the spot.

process

Identified major pain points and highlighted calls to action

Before we could focus on a visual re-design and update, I needed to address the parts of the website customers complained about and brainstorm ways to fix them. From there, I worked on a design that would better highlight the information customers were looking for in a way that was screen-friendly.

I found the most successful calls to action after running a a two month-long google search advertisement campaign, where I tried a variety of language and calls to action and then analyzed the data. The calls to action with the highest click-through rates made it onto the website in various forms, predominantly as easy to find buttons to help with site navigation.

Next steps

Integrated online registration

During the research phase, I discovered that no other dance or acting studio offered online registration for their classes. In fact, most competing studios had self-placed barriers in their registration process, including extra steps such as prospective parents sending introductory emails or scheduling meet-and-greet times. I broke down what our needs were for registration and worked on simplifying the entire process in ways that eliminated as many unnecessary steps as possible, but while still instilling confidence and clarity to our clients.

Simplified the copy updated the UI

The old website had a clashing color scheme and an array of fonts. I sought out to create a more uniform look based off of the studio’s colors of red and black. I wanted to give the website a playful yet professional feel.

reflections

Targeting user’s needs creates a working template

I took the biggest complaint users had given me alongside website analytics to create a site architecture that gave users the opportunity to find out the information they needed by following the flow of the design. I catered to our average user’s most specific needs and, in simplifying the navigation of the website, made online registration so simple that our overall new customer conversions increased.

I left a footer menu with plenty of navigation options for power users, but eliminated them from the main menu clutter for the average person. Finding the right balance of what to eliminate from the main menu and what to keep on took some trial and error and revisiting of analytics, but I feel like, in the end, I was able to strike the right balance.

Working with a smaller project has allowed me to see how careful crafting can influence the bigger picture, and how the devil truly is in the details.

The Texas Climbers Coalition (TCC) is a 501(c)3 nonprofit that advocates for access and helps maintain climbing areas in Texas. TCC was formed to encompass all of Texas and is an affiliate of the Access Fund, a national advocacy organization. Its work has supported Travis County’s acquisition and preservation of private lands, negotiated access to Hueco Tanks in El Paso, and recently acquired and permanently protected a limestone bluff in San Antonio, TX.

Problem

Aged design and hard to use editor

Upon my hiring as Programs Associate for the TCC, I was tasked with updating the website’s look and navigation. After hearing complaints from board members attempting to make edits and updates to the site, I quickly discovered that the editor was outdated and frustrating at best; unusable at worst.

Information was not easily visible

Memberships are the core bread and butter to how the Texas Climbers Coalition gets its funding. In the website’s previous design, the “become a member” option was hidden within the navigation, creating a host of missed opportunities. I knew that this was one of the most important call to actions and had to take on a bigger spotlight in the redesign.

process

Identified a main goal to center design

After exploring the entirety of the website’s pages and offerings, I broke down its purpose though levels of importance:

1. Memberships and donations

2. Texas climbing education and information

3. News/events

The TCC’s most important goal is increasing memberships, but the old design hid the membership page. I decided I would be highlighting it on the front page and in several other relevant pages using a friendly call to action button beneath membership information. To further entice memberships, on the main membership page, I linked to membership benefits, that were previously not displayed anywhere. Additionally visitors would be able to become a member by clicking on the “join” button highlighted in the navigation.

These changes had quick positive impacts. By giving visitors the ability to join in different areas of the website, the TCC saw a high increase in memberships and very positive conversion rates.

Next steps

Introduced in-house event registration

One of the biggest fundraising opportunities for the TCC is a yearly outdoor climbing competition that includes music, vendors, a silent auction, raffle, and a dinner at the end of the night. All money raised helps fund most projects for the year. Registration for the event had never been handled in-house; the new website migration would also for that to change.

Opening a more streamlined online registration increased registrants for the year and helped create an easier method of bookkeeping the day of the event. We had a total of 81 registrants sign up online, and the TCC raised over $3,000 in online sales alone.

Revamped the donations page

An exciting feature we were able to introduce was allowing visitors to sign up for monthly donations. Additionally, the new donation page could now auto-generate a tax-deductible receipt and allow people to choose what project they wanted their money to go towards.

reflections

Proper hierarchy is make or break in terms of conversions

Taking the time to discover how we needed to lay out the hierarchy of information and following that plan when creating the redesign improved conversion rates by leaps and bounds. I made sure that all content was easily accessible for our power users, but prioritized the three most important elements and worked the rest of the design around them. Our conversion rates speak truth: visitors that click the “join” or “become a member” buttons are ready to follow through. We had simply needed to make sure we gave them that opportunity in the first place.

Inspect 42 Home Inspection was a small business that offered home inspections around the city of San Antonio, TX. The website was originally created by the owner. After the business site continued to suffer from poor traffic, I was hired to update the website and improve the site’s SEO.

Problem

High bounce rate

A different array of design styles between every page created a fragmented and confusing overall look. The site needed mobile optimization, as viewing on a mobile device broke the site’s layout, and navigation lacked flow.

process

Created information architecture and color theme

After analyzing site analytics, I determined that the bounce rate was occurring from the initial home page visit. I worked with the client on identifying his main goals for the site (filling out a contact form) and created the information architecture around that. I used his pre-established color themes and font style based out of his logo to unify the site’s visual theme and design.

I focused on the mobile design first, as most of the site’s traffic was coming from mobile. Afterwards, I expanded the design to site desktop and tablet views, working on making an appealing visual hierarchy and information.

Next steps

Trimming the contact form to just necessities

Upon first meeting, the client specified that his measure of conversions came from his contact form. After discussion and getting to know the information he needed to collect from potential customers in order to give an accurate home inspection quote, I worked on integrating the form into his website.

The visual design of the form was modeled after his logo colors, meant to inspire a friendly and welcoming but clean and trustworthy effect on the user.

Created a services page

In the initial website, there was no outline of services offered by the client. I looked into key content offered by other websites in a similar field and suggested the addition to the client. After his approval, I worked with alongside a copywriter to implement the page addition.

reflections

Researching your clients’ business markets is essential

I quickly discovered that home inspection site users were looking for a simplistic and clean website that easily allowed them access to the information and services they were looking for. I created a small, easy to navigate, and easy to use website focused on outlining services and booking them. The simple but key changes significantly increased the site’s traffic and decreased the bounce rate at a statistically significant level.

Understanding the market you’re working with is essential to properly creating a quality product. My first foray into working with an unknown market was, thankfully, a simple and small project, but gave me valuable experience and understanding to prepare me for future projects.