Project Overview
In 2017, Driftwood Builders and Roofing were struggling with customer acquisition and click-through rates on their site. I was approached, alongside a developer team, to step in as their Product Designer to help improve their overall site experience and content strategy from concept to completion.
Implementing a Design Thinking methodology, I worked closely with the DBR team, developers, and their SEO strategy team to develop a total redesign that positively increased their online presence.
Challenge
How might we encourage greater discoverability and interest in our services for potential customers so they are more likely to reach out for a quote?
Driftwood Builders and Roofing is a local company based in Austin, TX with over 13 years of experience servicing the area and surrounding cities. Despite positive word-of-mouth and a great track record, their website was failing them. With a high bounce rate and almost non-existent click-to-quote numbers, we needed to dig deeper into what was driving the disconnect as generating new businesses is key in a fairly long-term project-based world.
Research + Analysis
Our research phase consisted of a complete site audit and competitor audit, both of which gave us a clear idea of the strengths and weaknesses DBR held within the market.
Based on our research, a few key findings were clear:
Site structure and navigation needed an overhaul
Content needed editing to be more scannable and web-friendly
A strong CTA was needed across all touchpoints, with a quick and clear contact form for site inquiries
Credibility was lacking, needed social proof and outside approvals
Overall site design needed a refresh
Concepts + Sketching
The goal of the landing experience was to boost credibility, give an overview of the business, and most importantly drive click-throughs and form submissions to get a quote. Through quick sketching exercises, we began working through possible executions and discussing the needs of all involved.
Concept 1: Highlight free quote and social proof
Concept 2: Interactive quote and assessment/ service focus
Concept 3: Highlight credibility, SEO, and drive contact via online form
content Architecture
During the research phase, the site audit highlighted a major downfall in the discoverability and user-friendliness of the current site — structure and navigation.
In order to address this pain point, we audited all currently available content and compared how it helped or hindered our goals of site helpfulness as well as in regard to competitor offerings. It was evident that DBR had a lot of knowledge and thought leadership that wasn’t being elevated to its best ability. Due to this, we chose to include an “articles” section on the new site and drafted a new, simplified, site map to reflect the organizational changes.
Design + Prototyping
While there was excitement among the team at the idea of an intelligent and interactive component on the page, as shown in concept 2, the timeline did not allow for that exploration or technical development during this first iteration of the new site. Concept 3 was chosen and I began high fidelity design based on the new sitemap and content created.
