Helping People Leaders Work More Effectively With Their Teams
Ruth Alexandor Website
My Role: Website Designer/Strategist
Client: Ruth Alexandor
Project Type: Freelance
Tools: Wix, Adobe Photoshop, Figma
Timeline: 6 weeks
Ruth is a leadership coach and learning consultant with a passion for helping people leaders in middle management roles work more effectively with their teams to increase engagement and productivity.
For over 20 years, Ruth was consulting with various companies and institutions and leading in-person workshops and courses. As a result of COVID-19 and the transition to a virtual practice, Ruth realized it was time to revamp her existing website so that she could better engage and sell services to both existing and new clients.
I was hired as a website designer and strategist, meaning that I was not only responsible for redesigning the existing site on Wix for aesthetic purposes, but more importantly, using design thinking to create a better, more navigable user experience throughout the site, and direct traffic to the client’s Services page.
Working within a tight budget and timeline parameters pushed me to focus on prioritizing tasks, and completing each project task to the best of my ability. Most importantly, my client was thrilled with the end result and has expressed tremendous gratitude for my time and dedication to the project.
Before
After
THE PROCESS
STEP 1 - UNDERSTANDING THE CLIENT’S VISION, GOALS, AND NEEDS
Initial Client Meeting Questions
1. Intro
Hi Ruth! So exciting to be working with you on this project. The purpose of today’s meeting is to help me better understand your brand and business, and what you are really trying to get out of this new website design. Recognizing that you already have an existing website, the time during this meeting can also be used to go over your website and identify what you love about the design, and on the contrary, what you feel is not working. Does that sound good?
2. Describe your brand
What do you do?
I am an accredited leadership coach and learning consultant who works with leaders in middle management roles to help them work more effectively with their teams
I help leaders increase engagement and productivity, which results in happier team members doing more work and meeting their goals
For over 20 years I have focused on developing talent and supporting learning and leading the training function in professional services firms and healthcare.
I am an Associate Certified Coach (ACC) with the International Coach Federation, a Registered Corporate Coach™ (RCC™) with the Worldwide Association of Business Coaches™ (WABC™), and a Certified Training and Development Professional (CTDP) with the Institute for Performance and Learning
I provide two different online services - leadership coaching and leadership learning
I provide leadership coaching for both teams and individuals, which helps individuals and groups uncover their own mindsets including goals, beliefs and emotions, and behaviors to unlock potential to maximize their own performance
As an experienced learning leader, I offer online programs and workshops which allow team leaders to learn and practice skills to become a more flexible leader to engage their team
What are your existing brand guidelines?
Colour Values
Typography
Logos and Graphics
3. Describe your visual style
What are some of the must-have elements of your new website?
Call-to-action buttons to get the user to book a free consultation
A clear distinction between the two different services that I offer
Less clutter of text and easier navigation
More intentional use of colour where it is needed
Make it easy for the user to return to the home page
Make it easy for the user to get in touch with me
The “About” page needs to show my certifications and clearly identify that I am accredited
Better use of typography to differentiate sections of text
What specific layout features should be incorporated into the design?
I really do not want the website to look corporate with boring colours like my competitors, and it just does not suit my personality
The tree graphic really represents who I am and I would like it to be rearranged somehow on the home page
I do not want to completely get rid of the existing aesthetics on my website, but I do like the colour palette because it is more engaging and a better representation of me
Lots of CTA buttons
Large, bold banners to get the user’s attention
The pages need to be more user friendly
I am not a visual person and I am leaving it up to you to use your judgement, I care more about directing the users to my services page or contact page where they can get in touch with me easily
Clear navigation bar
Do you currently have any preferences for the layout of copy/content?
I am happy with the existing content, I just think it needs to be arranged in a cleaner and more intuitive way, and I will have to make small adjustments to some of the descriptions
The overall goal is really to help the user get to know me and provide them with an easy way to learn more about my services and get in touch
I think the leadership coaching and leadership learning pages could be more refined
I hate having the pop-up message that tells users to book a free consultation - maybe there is another way to do this that is less invasive
We need to gear the content both towards individuals and teams
It would be good to make use of more graphics and icons so that the text is less overwhelming
Is there anything specific that you have seen on websites in the past that you do not like?
Stock photos
Promotional pop-ups as soon as you enter the site
Boring colour palettes (greys, blues, red)
Sharp edges
I do not want to look like my competition