Redesigning a website is always a challenge because it requires a lot of resources and can be very dangerous. The idea of using the latest technology and design trends is tempting. But as a general rule, it's better to have an old but functional website to create a beautiful new design that does not work properly.
Before starting a website redesign process, it is very important to clearly define its purpose.
Web Design
Why do you need to redesign your site design?
Even though users often think of re-designing a site as a change, it's not always the case. Usually there are three major reasons to redesign the website:
1. Better use and more sales
If your website has not been updated for many years and you lose potential customers due to serious problems with using the site. A redesign of the website may be a good option.
2. Organizational structural changes
Your business model has changed considerably and your website does not show your real business anymore. For example, you have a flower shop and a simple website that put flowers in it. Now you only need flower delivery services and need an e-commerce capability - the online payment on your website.
3. Brand
55% of people are disappointed with their brand when they have a disappointing experience on their website. Eliminating bad user experience can boost your brand.
Sometimes, redesigning a website can also be part of a brand-building process that happens at the organizational level. If your brand's visual identity is significantly altered, your website should also be changed.
Identifying a clear goal will guide the UX designer and project manager for decision-making during the process.
Set criteria
If you are planning to succeed, you must define the criteria for success before that.
Once you have an overarching goal for redesigning your website, set measurable goals for the project. For example, if you want to sell more after redesigning, you can set your goals for more sales or the average revenue from each buyer's purchase.
Note that these goals should be very precise because it is the best basis for redesigning the site.
To determine your benchmark, you must answer two main questions:
1. What is the current status of your website regarding the criteria you measure as success indicators?
2. How is your website comparable to your competitors?
If you have analyzed your website well, it will not be a problem for the first question. Set your average benchmarks for the past 12 months. In most cases of re-designing a website, you also need to test a usability test with quantitative criteria as part of your benchmark.
For a rival criterion, you can evaluate competitive capability. This is an excellent practice that not only shows your strengths and weaknesses, but also confirms some of the ideas you intended to "steal from them."
Competitive usability assessment can be performed as an expert review by an experienced UX practitioner or as a user test. This is the second standard test that users use of predetermined tasks on two or more competing websites.
Redesign site
Matching business goals with user intent
As your new website design should be user-centered, your business goals are also important. Otherwise, the whole process will be meaningless.
But how can work priorities be tailored to user needs?
By knowing exactly what the user wants, start by looking at the available characters. If you intend to target a new group of customers after redesigning, you should do user research and create the corresponding character.
This is important because anyone can have a particular purpose when visiting a site. Knowing the user's intention at every stage of the visit will allow you to direct them to your desired actions. When designing any web page, ask these two questions:
1. What does the user want at this stage?
2. What do we want the user to do at this stage?
Here is a simple example. Suppose you have redesigned the design of the booking flow for a hotel website. After filling in the date and place information, the user enters the Select Landing Room page.
On this page, users are trying to choose the best room on the date and budget constraints that are there. In fact, people are more likely to trust visual elements when shopping online. So, as a business manager, you can lead the user to choose a more expensive room with a combination of UX and content with care.
Understand the content mind
Website content is your most powerful selling tool. That's why you need to pay particular attention to it when designing it again. There are two aspects to it:
1. Visual and content design should be in place.
2. Copy of the website should be able to sell.
What does that mean?
It's always challenging to design a website without having the exact content. Writing the final draft for a web page that does not yet exist is difficult. To break this loop, you must consider the design of the professional site and the content production simultaneously.
On the other hand, you must copy your website in accordance with