Project 1599

The Problem

A historical venue in Glasgow had an outdated website that was hindering the business as it wasn't optimised for mobile devices, and it had several usability issues. The management of the venue recognised the importance of digital channels, and they asked me to design a platform capable of increasing revenue while promoting the rich history and cultural significance of the venue. The project was initiated during COVID-19 when the venue was closed to the public and they were looking for new ways to attract customers through digital channels.

We need a way to put ourselves out there while we are closed. We need to restart our business and make use of our space.

The Objective

The objective was to design and develop a mobile-first platform that would be easy to use, with the right call to actions and that would effectively promote the rich history of the venue as well as increase online bookings and revenue.

The Challenges

• Limited access to the venue: The COVID-19 pandemic didn't allow me to visit the venue, so no new photography could be done for the website redesign. In addition to this, no physical user testing or research could be completed.
• Limited budget: The budget for the project was limited, as the business was already facing many difficulties due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Balancing elegance with usability: The website needed to be artistic, commercially viable and at the same time easy to use and navigate. Striking a balance between the pre-existing design system and the new goals was a real challenge.
• Mobile optimisation: Big images and bold statements are what was needed to re-launch the venue, but I was conscious of the importance of a mobile-first approach. Striking a balance between every piece of the design was fun, but challenging!
• Integrations: The new platform needed to be open, manageable by non-technical people, and able to integrate with online booking systems.

The Actions

• User-centred design: Although I couldn't perform any physical testing or research, I organised listening tours with different stakeholders and I immersed myself in the rich history of the venue.
• Personas: Based on what I found out with the first round of research, I analysed the enquiries received by the business in the six months preceding the project to gather enough information to create personas that could represent the different types of visitors and their needs.
• Journey Mapping: I developed journey maps to understand the experience of the old website and identify pain points to address with the new design.
• Wireframing and prototypes: Using Figma, I created interactive prototypes that I used to simulate the final product. This not only helped me understand if I was going in the right direction, but it was also a tool I used to get the buy-in from internal stakeholders.

Overcoming The Challenges

• Limited access to the venue: Although I couldn't visit the venue or interview customers face to face, I used existing data to paint a picture of the different types of visitors the venue wanted to attract.
• Limited budget: Using a CMS and a customisable theme, we were able to cut spending on web development.
• Balancing elegance with usability: The new website strikes the perfect balance between the artistic vision of the venue and usability. Every call to action is clear and concise, while the imagery of the website showcases the beauty of every room of the venue.
• Mobile optimisation: Using a mobile-first approach we were able to enrich the experience of the users on whatever device they choose to use to visit the website so that even mobile users can fully appreciate the beauty of the venue, and its offerings.
• Integrations: The new platform has been built using a well-known CMS that can be easily integrated with every online booking system.

The Results

This is what the project sponsor said about the project:

The result is that the new website is vastly superior to our previous website, it is fresh and corporate looking and highly intuitive with lots of calls to action. Having worked with Alessio before I was highly confident they would deliver on time and on target but they exceeded expectations on this project. It was a pleasure to work with a very experienced, courteous and hard working professional.

After the launch of the website and the lifting of the COVID-19 restrictions, the venue quickly returned to profitability and surpassed its target profit for the year. The website was well received by visitors and internal stakeholders and it helped promoting the venue through digital channels.