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Two critical steps in our custom web development and user experience (UX) process are user flow creation and site mapping – both steps we take to ensure that everything we create meets the needs of its users.
Once we've defined our user personas and established their unique traits and goals, creating user flows allows us to understand exactly what steps they'll take to achieve those goals.
This process allows us to give the site an architecture or hierarchy optimized for its users. We establish this architecture in a sitemap, a diagram that displays how the site's pages will be organized.
The user flows and sitemap created during the project's earliest phases serve as reference points throughout the content, design and development phases that follow, guiding us in creating only what's best for the user.
Not too long ago, we redesigned OptometryStudents.com, a content publishing platform "for optometry students, by optometry students." The client sought a responsive redesign that would make their website more widely accessible and enjoyable to use.
We started by establishing the site's key user personas: readers, potential contributors, current contributors and editors. We created a user flow for each persona, encompassing as much possible user activity as we could, from signing up for newsletters to registering as a contributor to publishing submitted posts.
Because the site's users included not only readers of their informative content but also the creators of that content, we were tasked with creating a back-end WordPress experience that was as smooth and intuitive as the site itself.
Once we'd established what each user's priorities were, we took a hard look at the site's existing structure, broke it down and reorganized it into a hierarchy tailored around our users. The old website was unorganized and difficult to navigate thanks years of publishing without standardized categorization criteria.
The new version adds clarity, simplifying the navigation and prioritizing items based on user needs. Our sitemap allowed us to visualize this new hierarchy and translate it into a fully functional site – which you can check out at optometrystudents.com!
Our custom web development and UX process can work for your business too. Contact us today!
