GL Homes
Client
My Role
UX Developer
Duration
8 Months
Tools
Figma, Jira, Adobe, Sitecore
Project Overview
As the UX designer for GL Homes, Florida's second-largest homebuilder, I embarked on a project to revamp their commercial website and touchscreen kiosks. The existing site lacked brand alignment and failed to convey their residential services effectively. By enhancing the user experience, we aimed to boost online sales conversions, reducing the reliance on phone calls and in-person tours for business transactions. This comprehensive redesign encompassed responsive design principles, accessibility enhancements, and an aesthetically pleasing interface, resulting in a website that exudes professionalism, fosters trust, and reflects the exceptional quality of GL Homes' properties.
Problem Statement
How might we redesign the GL Homes website to encourage the interest of home buyers and increase sales leads?
Role & Responsiblities
As a UX Designer and Developer on the GL Homes website redesign and touchscreen kiosk project, my responsibilities spanned across various stages of the design process. The project was a group effort, involving a team of 7 individuals, including 4 UX designers, 2 artists, and 1 project manager. The entire project duration was 8 months, during which we collaboratively worked to achieve the project goals.
Agile Development Process
Agile scrum methodology was utilized for the management of this project. This involved dividing the design and development processes into separate sprints of 14 days each. This approach helped us to prioritize the most important tasks for the website launch, facilitate better communication and adaptability between the team, stakeholders, and clients, and ensure that the team met agreed upon milestones.
4 Major Points of Emphasis
1. Modernizing Look / Consistent Branding
The website redesign aimed to give GL Homes a modern, luxurious appearance that aligns with current design trends and custome rinterest. Emphasis was placed on creating a consistent branding experience throughout the site, using updated color schemes, typography, and visual elements to reinforce the company's branding.
2. Responsive Design
The focus was on developing a responsive website that adapted seamlessly to various devices, ensuring an optimal user experience for potential homebuyers browsing on smartphones, tablets, or desktop computers. Mobile-friendly features and flexible layouts were incorporated to increase accessibility and engagement.
3. Improved Navigation / CTAs
The website was revamped to improve navigation, making it more intuitive and user-friendly. Clear calls-to-action (CTAs) were strategically placed throughout the site to guide visitors through the sales funnel, such as scheduling appointments, exploring floor plans, and contacting the company for a brochure/tour.
4. Improved Content
The content was enhanced to offer valuable information about the GL Homes' offerings, showcasing the company expertise and unique selling points. Engaging multimedia elements, such as high-quality images and videos, were integrated to create an immersive and informative experience for potential customers.
The Design Process
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Discovery
In the "Discovery" stage for GL Homes' website redesign, we identified issues with brand representation and low lead conversions. Interviews with stakeholders and users, along with data analysis, revealed opportunities like leveraging Sitecore CMS analytics, repurposing marketing content, and using signups to boost customer engagement. To gain deeper insights, we utilized Sitecore Analytics, the Glassbox Heat Map Tool, informal observation sessions, and surveys, which provided valuable data on customer behavior and pain points. These findings informed the priorities for the redesign process.
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Define
During the "Define" stage of the website creation for GL Homes, Florida's largest residential community and homebuilder, we focused on uncovering defining themes and insights through initial research. By conducting user research and interviews, we developed user personas, representing the target audience. With these personas in mind, we then completed a hierarchical task analysis to outline the specific challenges the website design aimed to address, ensuring a user-centered approach to the project.
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Ideate
During GL Homes' website redesign, the team engaged in "Ideation" through facilitated brainstorming, focusing on innovative ideas, potetnial user flows, and a user-centered approach. The team identified key user tasks and crafted user journeys to visualize website navigation. Comprehensive evaluations of web hosting options were conducted to select the most suitable solution. We considered retaining the Old CMS for familiarity, exploring WordPress for a faster development process despite some limitations, and discussing a custom site for full control and improved potential.
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Design
In the "Design" stage, the team developed initial design ideas and translated them into sketches based off the research findings and theme development. Moving forward, we started with simple sketches of the UI, moved on to low- and high-fidelity mockups in Figma, ensuring WCAG 2.0 compliance for accessibility and responsive design across devices. Prototypes were then initiated in Sitecore to visualize the user journey, compare metrics, and get the MVP in front of users.
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Testing
The website redesign for GL Homes included rigorous testing throughout the design process. In the "Discovery" stage, informal observation sessions were held with internal team members, stakeholders, and some customers. During the "Ideation" stage, user observation sessions with paper prototypes helped determine the user flow strategy. The "Design" phase included user testing sessions with the Sitecore prototype. In Phase 5, final A/B testing compared the new design against the original to ensure optimal results.
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With More Time...
With more time available, I would focus on the following key aspects:
Accessibility Standards - WCAG 3:
More development time would have meant more time to devote to accessibility and better adhering the WCAG standards.Develop More Features for Secondary Persona:
The primary user persona took preference in terms of the design and development focus - more time would mean more feature development for persona 2.Explore What Content Drives User Engagement:
Would have liked to spend more time researching and identifying what type of content engages which types of users.
Results
Decreased Error Rates + Improved Navigability:
- On the redesigned site, users were 30% less likely to make a slip or error during a task
- Users were more likely on the redesigned site to successfully recover from errors tasks without an explanation of required steps
Made the Next Steps Easier:
- Calls generated from website leads to GL Homes leasing offices increased by more than 50%
Improved Sales Conversions from Website Leads:
- On the old site, about 1% of website leads were converted into homebuyers
- On the new site, one year after launch, 2.8% of website leads are converted into homebuyers
Increased Web Traffic:
- User traffic increased by 80% - likely due to the improved SEO of the site as well as the shift to responsive design improving the mobile experience
Improved Task Success Rates + Increased Session Durations:
- On the old site, about 1% of website leads were converted into homebuyers
- On the new site, one year after launch, 2.8% of website leads are converted into homebuyers
Want to work with me?
Feel free to contact me!
