Basic Website Redesign Process
For an existing e-commerce footwear website
When I come to redesigning a website, my general steps are:-
- Get information from the client in regards to what they expect and hope for, both design and functionality wise.
- Examine the current website design, looking at what currently works and what could be improved, getting feedback from the client to elements on the current site.
- Produce a list of elements/features that should be included and have a high presence on the website.
- Produce a mock-up of the possible homepage in a static image along with a brief description of the features, such as explaining that the banner can rotate through multiple images, or that the category images can link to any specified category etc.
- Get feedback on the mock-up and if needed produce a tweaked/new mock-up until the client is happy with the feel/theme/look of the website.
- Once the mock-up has been accepted then I move on to producing the working proof on a temporary sub domain.
Client interaction
Discuss with the client their needs and what they are hoping for to get a better understanding on how they want there website to turn out, talk about how they feel about there current website and what current works, what they like and dislike about the existing design and functionality.
Branding is a big part of the redesign process, in which the existing branding (logo, colours, fonts) are used within the redesign and source files are required.
Normally the client will have a basic idea on what they are wanting, they might have seen features on multiple websites that they like and want to incorporate, they might produce a feature list on what they want on there website, normally these can include:- homepage rotating adverts/banners along with featured and/or latest products on the homepage.
Existing Design
Bad points
- Design is not responsive
- No textual content on the homepage
- No featured categories on homepage
Good points
- Prominent advert banner on homepage acting as a call to action
- Featured products on homepage
- Clean product images
- Designer logos across the bottom of the page
- Social media presence
- Contact information (phone/email) clearly visible
Features to include in redesign
The features that I plan to include in the redesign, specially on the homepage are:-
- Larger call to action rotating banner
- Basic summary of business on the homepage, to help promote trust for new potential customers
- Featured / key categories
- Bigger, cleaner and clearer footer area, to include site navigation and contact details
- Include the social media presence, but as secondary to the site content
- Responsive design
- Better main navigation menu, including drop-down menus
Mock up
Based on the specifications and general ideas received from the client along with examining a few of the clients rival websites I went ahead and produced a static homepage mock-up, showing the overall style of the website.
