THE BRIEF
Previously an art director and programmer, Erik has the insight to composition and web architecture needed to take the kind of photos that are at once impactful, yet formatted appropriately for the job at hand, be it corporate print pieces or web content. It is this sensibility that landed him the plum job of providing the key visual for Berlin Fashion Week 2015.
Erik Schumacher's growing roster of well known clients has encouraged him to beef up his online presence and attract more steady corporate as well as lifestyle and sport clients.
While he already has social media, Erik still needs a more extensive website than the one he has, consisting of one page with contact information at the moment, to showcase his abilities in a way that appeals to his target audience.
Note: Any and all photos on this page are the copyrighted work of Erik Schumacher, used by permission.
THE PROCESS
Research:
Secondary and primary research like market research, competitive analysis, a survey, persona creation
UX Strategy and Development:
Card sorting using a varied selection of Erik's most popular works, a site map was developed
Interaction Design:
Low fidelity and hi fidelity wireframes, user flow shows basic contact flow with email templates to clients upon contact and asset delivery
UI Design:
A personal brand for Erik was developed including logo which can be seen in the responsive UI iterations
Prototyping & Testing:
User testing of a high fidelity prototype of the website, affinity map
RESEARCH
Market Research, Competitive Analysis, A Survey, Persona Development
RESEARCH GOALS
• Who are some of Erik's competitors?
• What do the layouts of their sites look like?
• What are desirable features Erik's competitors have on their websites?
• What sets Erik apart?
• How can we bring attention to what sets Erik apart?
COMPETITIVE ANALYSIS
Competitors were identified and examined to see what they do or don't do better
STRENGTHS:
Different style, a website with references, comprehensive online gallery
WEAKNESSES:
Different style, most likely no art direction background like Erik
STRENGTHS:
Affordable, convenient, immediate turnaround on deliverables
WEAKNESSES:
Less than professional equipment, no artistic eye or training, no experience or professionalism
STRENGTHS:
Affordable, easy to browse, convenient
WEAKNESSES:
Limited subject matter, not personalized, need to sift through
STRENGTHS:
More open to interpretation, whimsical, unique
WEAKNESSES:
Takes longer, more delicate, hard to capture precise detail, style subjective
SUMMARY OF FINDINGS:
Secondary research revealed that most other photographers had extensive galleries on their websites and were very active on social media to promote themselves. Having more than one outlet of communication and expression definitely helped in getting their image and personality across to reassure an audience considering hiring them.
SURVEY
A survey was made with Google Forms and sent to a handful of Erik's clients.
SUMMARY OF FINDINGS:
7 participants 30-60 years of age completed the survey. More than 70% of Erik's past clients surveyed are people between the ages of 30-40 living in Germany who hired Erik for a €1000-€5000 business project.
INTRODUCING SABINE
The Traditionalist head of a business in Germany who thinks a website is a must, but doesn't necessarily think it needs social media
SUMMARY OF FINDINGS:
The research indicated that since all other photographers had more sophisticated websites with extensive galleries but didn't necessarily have an art direction background, this is the way we could set Erik apart. 4/7 written responses for why a website is necessary for a photographer cited appearance and making a good impression upon the referral of Erik to other clients as the main reason.
Interviewing Erik also revealed that he had a very special process to his photo shoots involving a trusted team of professionals creating an intimate experience. Because his clients also valued Erik's professionalism, a seamless interaction, and clarity, I decided to create an honest experience from the start by making a key part of Erik's site focus on his process. By illustrating the experience from start to finish, as well as providing reviews and quotes from past clients, we can reassure corporate clients who might find Erik organically.
UX Dev & Strategy
Card Sorting & Site Map
GOALS / PAIN POINTS • SOLUTIONS
Professionalism • Detail Erik’s process clearly from start to finish, carry site branding through into email correspondence
Honesty • Feature testimonials from past clients
Experienced Hires • Emphasize Erik’s past experience as art director and work with big name clients
Consistency • Gallery of Erik’s style across multiple clients to show quality and style
CARD SORTING
Using Google Drive to share a folder of Erik's 44 photos total delivered to me for this project as well as Photos on my MacBook, participants were asked to sort Erik's work into folders with category labels of their choosing.
SITE MAP
The card sorting and research helped to determine that Erik's work consists mainly of Business and Lifestyle work. The addition of a page dedicated to his process was also made since that is a factor that helps set Erik apart. The About Me section will serve to highlight Erik's art direction background as another special skill set he possesses.
SUMMARY OF FINDINGS:
Participants used words like "Product," "Commercial," as well as "Convention" and "Promo" to describe the more corporate photos, which led me to choose "Business" as the umbrella term for all of it. Two of the three participants chose "Portraits" as labels for images with close-ups of people leading me to recommend to Erik that he eventually add a Portraits section to the site since his actual library of images is very extensive.
Interaction Design
Wireframing, User Flow
WIREFRAMING
A web architecture and site map were developed that emphasized Erik's experience with covering corporate events and athletics related projects. The basic UI draws from multiple sport and corporate company websites resulting in a look that is both energetic, but grounded with symmetry and a clean but robust look that runs through the graphic elements and fonts to convey stability.
USER FLOW
Looking to book Erik for a lifestyle shoot, one user's path to getting deliverables.
UI Design
Branding, Responsive Wireframes
BRANDING
Erik had expressed that his goal with this site was to attract more corporate and ad agencies, as well as sport and lifestyle clients. The current main color of the site is blue based on Erik's own preference for Cerulean blue and the prevalence of blues on corporate websites in general. The logo reflects this duality as well with the stronger typeface to the left and a more delicate approach for the "photography" of the word mark and a deconstructed aperture incorporated.
RESPONSIVE UI
The UI for Erik incorporating the colors, images and logo across the board for mobile, tablet, and desktop. With Oxford Blue at the top and Astral Blue for the footer, the two differing blues are meant to reflect the dualism encompassing the professionalism first and foremost that Erik possesses--which is especially attractive to his corporate clients--alongside the empathy at the heart of all of Erik's work.
Prototyping & Testing
Prototype Development, Affinity Map
USER TESTING:
Four participants were chosen between the ages of 29-42 to test the desktop prototype
SUMMARY OF FINDINGS:
All testers were able to reach the last email with the link to deliverables. There were some issues with white text over the images since I used another hero image of Erik's for the home page that wasn't as crisp as it could have been, but otherwise users liked the site's design and Erik's work. 3/4 users tested remotely, one in-person. 3/4 testers have some experience with either building websites or have creative backgrounds.
IN CONCLUSION:
The research guided the site toward a design that gears toward corporate, sport, and lifestyle clients. After user testing and watching participants go through the prototype, I realized I should include an All page to the Business and Lifestyle categories images in the largest sizes possible to showcase their quality in eye-candy-large formats since the smaller galleries didn't allow for an overview of Erik's body of work. The matching email templates that will accompany clients from the start of their experience with Erik to the end provide continuity to the professionalism and reinforces Erik's style--two qualities most important to clients.
THE UPDATE:
All Next Step changes have since been implemented into the prototype. Further iterations will be done with Erik starting on August 13th to develop a real site and add more content to it as well as incorporate any other changes and elements deemed necessary.
