The document discusses the importance of visual strategy in website design. It recommends analyzing the audience, prioritizing key user tasks, creating wireframes to establish a visual hierarchy, developing an audience-centric navigation through card sorting techniques, analyzing existing content, and defining a content strategy before beginning visual design work. The goal is to ensure the design is based on a solid strategic foundation that places audience needs at the forefront.

1. Strategic Web Design:
Visual Strategy
Ben Wong, Interactive Design Manager
Kelley Jarrett, Market Manager

2. Why is Visual Strategy Important?
YOUR WEBSITE MAY SAY SO MUCH IT SAYS NOTHING AT ALL
PROVIDES AUDIENCE-CENTRIC CONTENT AND NAVIGATION
PROMOTES CLARITY AND FOCUS

3. Kill The Noise: The Importance of Prioritizing
Your Content

4. Prepare to Reduce the Noise:
REVIEW YOUR WEBSITE AND ASK YOURSELF:
What three user tasks are the highest priority for your organization?
Are you giving that user task the loudest voice?
Are less important tasks competing with your critical tasks?

5. Visual Prioritization
YOUR WEBSITE YOUR AUDIENCE

6. Wireframes Help Prioritize
SHOULD BE COMPLETED AFTER AUDIENCE ANALYSIS AND BEFORE
VISUAL DESIGN
HELP TAKE YOUR WEBSITE FROM SUBJECTIVE TO OBJECTIVE.

7. Wireframes Help Prioritize
IDENTIFY THE TOP
10 TASKS AND PRIORITIZE
IMPORTANCE
WHEN CREATING A
WIREFRAME, CONSIDER:
– Position
– Size
– Contrast
– Calls to Action
DOCUMENT WHY DECISIONS
WERE MADE. PREVENTS
COMPETITION AND “CONTENT
CREEP”

8. Audience-Centric Navigation
YOUR WEBSITE YOUR AUDIENCE

9. Online Card Sorting
Online Card Sorting gives your team the ability to determine the
ideal structure of your new navigation by grouping pages and
tasks into common categories and sorted by importance. This
data can be used to create a new sitemap and to drive the
visual design of the new interface of your site.

10. Onsite Card Sorting
The Onsite Card Sorting allows us to
work side by side with your team in
developing the navigation and
interface of your site. Unlike the
Online Card Sort, conducting the
exercise in person can lead to
revealing conversations about the
nature of your audience and the
deficiencies of your current
navigation scheme that can be
solved by a effective card sort.

11. Site map
From the Onsite Card Sorting exercise, a new Site Map is generated. This site
map takes all the data gathered during the card sort and compiles it into a
diagram of your site’s new navigation scheme, allowing you to visualize how
the user will navigate through your content. This site map also acts as a guide
for the interface that is developed during the Visual Design process.

12. Content
YOUR WEBSITE YOUR AUDIENCE

13. Analyze Your Content
ANALYZE CURRENT CONTENT
– Active Pages
– Broken Links
– # of pages
– Most commonly accessed
– Least accessed
– 2 Clicks to Key tasks
DETERMINE KEEPERS AND TRASH
– What can you leave behind?
– What should you optimize with Calls to Action?

14. Plan Your Content Strategy
ANALYZE CURRENT STATE
DETERMINE WEAKNESSES

15. Recap
ANALYZE YOUR AUDIENCE
PRIORITIZE TASKS
CREATE A VISUAL HIERARCHY THROUGH WIREFRAMES
FORM AN AUDIENCE-CENTRIC NAVIGATION
ANALYZE YOUR CONTENT
DEFINE YOUR CONTENT STRATEGY

16. Next Steps
THE ART AND THE MAGIC
BEAUTIFUL DESIGN BASED ON SOLID STRATEGY