Project Overview
Upon finishing the course with UMass/Simplilearn a friend of mine reached out to me about a website she has that sells some of her art. She knew I had just completed the UX/UI course and thought having a real world example to work from would be a good place for me to start. So the goal was to give her website a facelift while improving the UX where I can.
My Contributions
For this project I was the sole Product Designer redoing her site for desktop. My responsibilities included everything from user research, to wireframes, to the high fidelity prototype that I would present her with at the end. I would check in with my mentor who's experienced in the UX design field to ensure I was continuing to execute UX design principles properly.
Before
After
Learnings
When I was asked if I'd like the opportunity to redesign a real website I jumped at the opportunity. After learning so much new terminology, tactics for getting better user feedback, and honing my overall design process I was eager to show off all the new skills that I learned. Well it wasn't long after getting off the call with my friend to discuss the project and diving into my work when I realized just how much information I was missing. Was there a particular look or style she was going for? She had also asked if I could design an About Page for her that included an option to reach out to her for commission work; but what information did she want on this page exactly? Does she have any past commissions's she'd like to display? I had to take a step back, reign in my eagerness, and take some time to get together a list of questions of information I needed from her to be successful. In the end, I was able able to deliver her a new design a week and a half after taking on the project where she ended up loving the new design.