Introduction
Proposing to Hitched
Hitched wanted a homepage proposal for a new look and feel for their wedding planning website. With a focus on a user centered approach they wanted to better target their target audience. They had good tools which weren’t being promoted in the right way.
Research
Understanding what's important
Hitched asked me to take a look at their homepage and their competitors to see what could be improved. Their key market is predominantly female aged 25-34, and most came via a Google search for venues, dresses or advice on planning. The users first big milestone is often finding and booking a venue.
They wanted me to redesign the homepage to reflect the needs of a new user who is at the start of their wedding planning journey. I needed to keep in mind that over half of their audience accessed the site on their phone.
Key challenges
- Understand user goals
- Align business goals with user goals
- Re-design homepage
- Mobile first approach
- Time frame: 10 hours
Looking at the competition
Through a competitor analysis I found a lot of the competition had similar tools on offer and looked more modern in their approach to design. Some used videos to capture the emotion of a wedding day which helps sell the 'dream' wedding.
After the competitor analysis I spoke to two users who were in the key demographic and had just started to plan their weddings. I asked them some questions and got them to complete a few simple tasks on the Hitched website to ascertain pain points and improvements.
Research
User centered design
After the user interviews I had gained valuable insight into what was important to them at the beginning of their wedding planning journey. One particular pain point was they didn’t like the idea of having to sign up before doing anything. For this reason I wanted to create a friendly, non-committal (initially) website which guided users to where they wanted to go. At an appropriate time I would then action them to sign up, rather than them getting to do it the first time they start looking.
My participants also expressed enthusiasm at the idea of having an app. They said that access on their mobile would be a real draw for them to sign up. I knew this was something that I had to incorporate into the wireframes and design.
Design & research tools
- User interviews
- Competitor analysis
- Sketch
- Illustrator
- InVision App
With over half their users browsing on smaller devices I designed with a mobile first approach.
Keeping the information simple for the user to understand at a glance
Conclusion
A design that focuses on user and business goals
Testing the final design on my participants they found it to be a big improvement on the current website. They found the information clear and easily scannable without having to think too much. The photography was more lifestyle based so one participant said it was easier to imagine it being their wedding.
I felt very comfortable doing the interview with Lucy, I was at ease almost immediately. She was very professional throughout and talked me through what was going to happen.
Nicola, Participant One
Get in touch
Let's get the ball rolling
If you'd like a discuss your requirements further get in touch by email