Ellen Michel Art School
Website redesign to improve user acquisition and conversions and ultimately increase revenue.
TEAM
SOLO project, time frame SIX months, part-time.
End-to-end UX Process
Stakeholder Management ⎮ Website Audit & Content Inventory ⎮ Google Analytics ⎮ User Interviews ⎮ Competitive & Comparative Analysis ⎮ Information Architecture ⎮ Wireframing & Prototyping ⎮ Documentation & Handover ⎮ Website implementation through Wix
TOOLS
OUR CLIENT
Ellen Michel is an accomplished artist and poet who has been mentoring aspiring artists for years. Her Art School is a warm and welcoming community where people come to practice and live art together.
CHALLENGE
Ellen's Art Studio offers authentic art tutoring but struggles to attract new students and sales are declining. The website is overcrowded, making it difficult for users to find crucial information, resulting in high bounce and low conversion rates.
OUTCOME
I led product initiatives to boost the brand and establish a solid digital presence. The website redesign has an improved layout, streamlined navigation, and a user-friendly design that showcases the studio's unique practices. The revamped user flow and clear calls to action resulted in a ten-fold increase in conversion rates during the first week. The satisfied client regularly shares updates on website conversions, fostering a long-lasting relationship.
MY ROLE
UX/UI Lead and Design Implementation, strategy influence and stakeholder management
I provided design direction and explained the importance of accessibility and UI consistency.
I held review and feedback sessions to ensure that everyone was on the same page with the design direction, new UI aesthetics, and digital brand.
I also presented product design page flows using Figma and collaborated directly with internal stakeholders on website content.
I played a key role in shaping the social media strategy and POS.
Throughout the project, I kept stakeholders continuously informed of progress and quality updates.
I provided guidance and direction to the stakeholder team to help them understand the AA accessibility requirements.
I also organized quality assurance review sessions with stakeholders to gather final feedback before going live.
STAKEHOLDER MANAGEMENT
During the project opening, I had a conversation with the client in which I explained my role as a UX designer and how the UX process could offer solutions that would lead to desirable business outcomes. This was an opportunity to bring the stakeholders along with me, excite and educate them about the process, keep it transparent, and promote open communication and feedback.
UX RESEARCH
I conducted a Website Audit and Content Inventory to evaluate the current state of the Ellen Michel Art School website. After analyzing the data from Google Analytics, I identified several issues related to the website's content, visual appeal, and user experience. While usability testing is typically the next step, it was clear that the website was broken, so I decided to start the UX design process from scratch.
Competitive & Comparative Analysis showed what other similar businesses are doing and where are the gaps in the market.
LOW AVG. PAGES PER SESSION suggests
A lack of understanding of the target audience's needs
The website needs to be better adapted to convert customers.
An absence of personalised experience that is encouraging them to convert.
The design must satisfy real-life users who visit Ellen Michel's website.
Opportunities
Improve your website's navigation.
Create compelling and relevant content.
Leverage social media to drive traffic to your website.
HIGH BOUNCE RATE suggests
The website is making a Bad First Impression
Low customer engagement with the website
A cluttered interface with poor visual hierarchy
Opportunities
Provide information in line with people's needs
Improve visual appeal and user experience.
A VERY LOW CONVERSION RATE suggests
Unpersuasive Calls to Action
CTAs (e.g. buttons and links) fail to push customers through the conversion funnel.
Colour: do they stand out?
Size: are they big enough?
Microcopy: are they persuasive?
Opportunities
Conduct UX research
Apply 'the power of nothing'
Design a user-friendly CTA
KEY Customer needs
CLEAR INFORMATION ABOUT CLASSES
FLEXIBILITY, If the classes will suit their lifestyle
FEES
ENROLLMENT PROCESS
QUALITY OF THE CLASSES
TYPE OF CLASSES, If classes will suit their level, who are classes tailored to?
TEACHERS STYLE AND EXPERIENCE
QUALITY OF STUDENT’S ARTWORK
INFORMATION ABOUT STUDIO
STUDIO SPACE
KEY Customer pain points
People are not clear on what they would be getting for the amount spent.
Not enough information about teaching methods and style.
People don’t know if the classes will be tailored to their level.
Not enough information about the quality of the classes, the teacher’s experience and also the quality of student’s artwork
People don’t have enough information about studio space.
After speaking with Ellen's students, I gained a better understanding of the target audience that the website should cater to.
PROBLEM STATEMENT
People need relevant and easily accessible information about Ellen’s art studio to commit to enrolling in art classes.
HMW provide information that people need?
Promote flexibility of the classes
Promote that classes will be tailored to any level
Explain the enrollment process and fees
Include a gallery of Ellen’s artwork
Showcase Ellen’s artwork by making her online SHOP button more accessible
Showcase studio space internally and the garden
Showcase student’s artwork in a more accessible way
Tailor social media channels for business
HMW make information more accessible to find?
Create a more intuitive flow
Reduce clutter and cognitive load
Reduce scroll
Improve consistency of design elements
Make CTAs persuasive and easy to find
Make the SHOP button more visible
HMW increase studio revenue?
Make the link to SHOP more accessible
Make a gift voucher more flexible
Create a Newsletter
Tailor social media channels to business objectives
03 DEVELOP
My research findings informed the main navigation bar and helped restructure the Information Architecture.
Original Sitemap
New Sitemap
Proposed Navigation bar
04 DELIVER
I utilized the Figma UI tool to create wireframes based on extensive research, ensuring that user requirements and business objectives were aligned. The presentation of information was made clear and accessible to users. The UI incorporated brand colours and moods to reflect the artist's character and artistic style. Consistency in UI components enhanced the overall user experience. A new navigation bar made Ellen's artwork and other point-of-sale items more visible, providing a streamlined shopping experience.
FINAL PROTOTYPE
Wireframes were linked into a prototype to start testing, and after a few rounds of iteration, a new design was ready to implement through website builder Wix.
RECOMMENDATIONS
Continue to iterate and test with real users.
Work on improving SEO.
Tailor social media channels to business goals.
Measure website success by agreed KPIs, bounce rate, conversion rate, customer satisfaction, and revenue increase.
LEARNINGS & TAKEAWAYS
UX practice is a powerful tool for creating products away from assumptions and in line with user needs, fostering meaningful relationships between people and brands.
Always talk to your customers to understand what needs to be designed and corrected. Listen, observe, reflect…
Stakeholder management skills can take us far in building products that exceed expectations and build relationships with the client that last.
