Homepage Redesign
I completed a UX audit of a website I visit often, noting possible design changes to increase user accessibility and overall experience.
Time Frame: 2 days
INTRODUCTION
To continue my study and practice of UX,
I used the principles I have learned to address user pain points.
The Project: The Chattahoochee Nature Center (CNC) is a wonderful nature preserve that offers children, families, and nature lovers, a place to explore, learn, and have fun. I wanted to ensure the website was informative and easy to navigate for all users.
The Problem: The current homepage has a menu that is hidden, text colors that are hard to read, and text that is not well organized.
The Goal: Redesign the homepage of the website to make it more accessible and easier for users to navigate.
The Timeline: Setting a two day time limit for myself, I went through the process of finding what elements of the website could be problematic for users, what other local competitors have on their websites, and creating a design mockup for the homepage.
CURRENT WEBSITE HOMEPAGE
Using heuristic evaluation, I went through the website and noted areas that could be improved upon. The main topics that needed to be addressed: recognition rather than recall, aesthetic and minimalist design, and visability of system status.
There is no call to action above the fold.
There isn't any visual navigation to lead you through the site without selecting the hamburger menu.
No information on what the center is about and what they offer until you scroll.
Text difficult to read.
White text on orange button hard to read, not WCAG compliant.
Text very close to edge of page and not aligned in some places.
Helpful information about the programs and activities offered.
Text and buttons need to be aligned.
Header text hard to read.
Text color not WCAG compliant.
Text alignment and spacing too close.
Not clear that some text contain hyperlinks.
Text subject groupings unclear.
PROPOSED DESIGN CHANGES
After reviewing at all the areas of possible pain points, I found four main areas of focus: call to action, accessibility, navigation, and hierarchy. Below are these areas addressed in the new design.
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1
Call to Action
- Added call to action above the fold.
- Made all call to action buttons similar.
- Added newsletter space in footer rather than hyperlink.
2
Navigation
- Added navigation menu on header rather than sticky menu on side.
- Created a carosal of images to give an opportunity for the user to see the nature center and reduce crowded text.
- Removed hyperlink for river conditions and changed navigation to a button.
3
Accessibility
- Made sure text had high contrast so it was readable for all users.
4
Hierarchy
- Used formatting and text weight to add more visual hierarchy.
- Grouped similar text to make it easy to understand for users.
SUMMARY
I enjoyed the challenge of applying the UX principles and best practices I have been learning.
Created opportunity for growth and learning, especially on homepage design and heuristic evaluation.
Got to address a real-world problem that I have personally encountered.
If I continued working on this project, my next step would be to conduct usability studies to see how users navigate the site, specifically within the different pages. I found during my heuristic evaluation that there are several cases where call to action buttons change language, misleading icons, and missing information to help the user make decisions without contacting CNC directly.