Act.com

UX & Visual Design

I redesigned Act!'s website to increase site traffic and improve conversion rates. The project took place over several phases which included developing a new site architecture, a visual rebrand, and content strategy planning. We built the site on top of a new content management system designed to make it easy for non-technical employees to update and protect important web content.

Act! users work in a variety of industries. To appeal to a range of customer needs, I designed user-flows based on different industry verticals. These sub-sites included case studies, testimonials, and strong calls-to-action. As an advocate for data-driven design, I helped our marketing team and developers embed tracking codes across the site allowing us to measure the effectiveness of display advertising and page content.

Good web design relies on content that presents well across mobile devices. I helped our marketing team make the transition to a responsive page layouts by creating content guides. These rubrics defined content attributes such as word count, intent/purpose, as well as copywriting best practices. 

With user flows and content strategy in place, I started wireframing new pages for Act.com. Collaborating with our lead developer, I designed page templates based on a 12 column fluid grid. Our work resulted in a collection of layouts including landing pages, product pages, and blog posts.

In order create a consistent visual presentation, I designed a website style guide defining colors, typography, image treatments, and included the CSS for common UI elements such as buttons, forms, and site navigation. 

The final website included a new customer support center, blog, and industry targeted micro-sites as well as a full visual redesign. The improvements I made led to an increase in site traffic and an increase in product trial conversion rates. The website evolved from an informative catalog to a story-driven marketing tool. 

Challenges:

In addition to the act.com redesign, I was also responsible for designing UI style guides for mobile apps, conference websites, display advertising and social media campaigns. To achieve design quality and meet deadlines, I learned how to seek feedback, prioritize high-value milestones and iterate from concept to final product.

insights:

Content strategy is an important facet of web design. Over the course of the act.com project, I developed tools for managing the creation of web copy, marketing campaigns, and customer support.