Redesigning
Your Website?
What You Need to
Know
Lauren Bacon + Emira Mears
Thursday, September 22, 2011

Q&A
Twitter: #raisedeyebrow
Thursday, September 22, 2011

Q&A
Type question here
Twitter: #raisedeyebrow
Thursday, September 22, 2011

Your Hosts:
Emira Mears Lauren Bacon
Partner Partner
Raised Eyebrow Web Studio Raised Eyebrow Web Studio
Twitter: @emiramears Twitter: @laurenbacon
Twitter: #raisedeyebrow
Thursday, September 22, 2011

Recipe for a
successful redesign:
1. What do you already know is NOT working?
2. Think like your audience
3. Audit your website content
4. Know your numbers
5. Assemble your team
Twitter: #raisedeyebrow
Thursday, September 22, 2011

What’s Not Working Now?
• Identify your pain points.
• Write them down.
• Voilà! Measures of success.
Twitter: #raisedeyebrow
Thursday, September 22, 2011

Quick Poll
What’s the biggest problem on your current
website?
• People can’t find the info they’re looking for.
• The visual design needs an overhaul.
• We can’t make it do what we need from a
technical perspective.
• Everything about it needs changing!
Twitter: #raisedeyebrow
Thursday, September 22, 2011

Think Like Your Audience.
Who do you want to connect
with?
Image credit: paul goyette on Flickr. Twitter: #raisedeyebrow
Thursday, September 22, 2011

Think Like Your Audience.
Do your homework.
• Audience research
• If you don’t already have this, ask your vendor
for help.
Twitter: #raisedeyebrow
Thursday, September 22, 2011

Think Like Your Audience.
Grouping & Ranking
• Does your community fall into natural
groupings - by type, interest, or
demographics?
• Are some groups higher-priority (for your
website, anyway) than others?
Twitter: #raisedeyebrow
Thursday, September 22, 2011

Audit Your Content.
What have you got?
And what’s missing?
Image credit: honzasterba on Flickr. Twitter: #raisedeyebrow
Thursday, September 22, 2011

Audit Your Content.
What an audit looks like:
Twitter: #raisedeyebrow
Thursday, September 22, 2011

Know Your Numbers.
Site analytics as a snapshot
Image credit: Paul Jacobson on Flickr. Twitter: #raisedeyebrow
Thursday, September 22, 2011

Know Your Numbers.
Site analytics as a snapshot
• What do you notice?
• What's working well?
• What's surprising?
• What's not working well, or missing?
Twitter: #raisedeyebrow
Thursday, September 22, 2011

Assemble Your Team.
Identify & include key
stakeholders
Image credit: cubemate on Flickr. Twitter: #raisedeyebrow
Thursday, September 22, 2011

Assemble Your Team.
When & how?
• Convene a meeting to define goals & priorities
• Share observations & metrics beforehand
• Reiterate them in person
• Review comparable organizations’ websites
• Gather input & prioritize
Twitter: #raisedeyebrow
Thursday, September 22, 2011

Assemble Your Team.
Decide on roles
• Who will be on the project team?
• Who has sign-off authority?
• Important: sign-off must be unequivocal!
Twitter: #raisedeyebrow
Thursday, September 22, 2011

Assemble Your Team.
Inclusivity vs Design
by Committee
• When surveys are helpful
• Tie your redesign goals to organizational
objectives
• Who’s accountable to whom?
Twitter: #raisedeyebrow
Thursday, September 22, 2011

Assemble Your Team.
Sharing Progress vs Inviting Input
• Some people will simply want status reports at
key milestones, such as:
• Priority setting before project begins
• Just before design sign-off
• 1 week before launch
• Immediately after launch
Twitter: #raisedeyebrow
Thursday, September 22, 2011

What Your Vendor Needs
Communicating with designers &
developers
Image credit: duda C. on Flickr. Twitter: #raisedeyebrow
Thursday, September 22, 2011

What Your Vendor Needs
We want to know:
• Your challenges • Key metrics
(what's not working).
• Who's on your team
• Your audience
• What your top
definitions
priorities are for the
• Where your existing redesign
website content
stands
Twitter: #raisedeyebrow
Thursday, September 22, 2011

Recap:
1. What do you already know is NOT working?
2. Think like your audience
3. Audit your website content
4. Know your numbers
5. Assemble your team
Twitter: #raisedeyebrow
Thursday, September 22, 2011

Need more help?
Raised Eyebrow offers:
• Online Communications • Usability Consulting
Strategy Consulting
• Email Newsletter design,
• Information Architecture and development and management
Interaction Design
• Accessibility and Search
• Website Design & Engine Optimization
Development Consulting
• Web 2.0 and Social Media • Custom workshops for your
Consulting organization
www.raisedeyebrow.com
Twitter: #raisedeyebrow
Thursday, September 22, 2011

Questions?
Please use the “raise
hand” feature, or type
a question into the
Q&A box.
Twitter: #raisedeyebrow
Thursday, September 22, 2011

Questions?
Please use the “raise
hand” feature, or type
a question into the
Q&A box.
Type question here
Twitter: #raisedeyebrow
Thursday, September 22, 2011

Thank you.
Lauren Bacon Emira Mears
@laurenbacon @emiramears
raisedeyebrow.com
Twitter: #raisedeyebrow
Thursday, September 22, 2011