We ran an extended period of research, surveys, workshops and one-to-one interviews at the start of the project, getting insight from mentors, mentees, volunteers, partners and the Brightside team themselves before we started work on the UX design for the site.
At the UI stage, following some of the feedback received through the workshops, we also completed a refresh of the Brightside brand, which resulted in the addition of some new secondary colours to the palette, as well as new graphic devices to give the brand a little more of an ownable, and energetic identity. These new devices were lovingly christened as ‘Udon Noodles’, which we rolled with, and they’re now referred to as this in the new brand guidelines we created.
One of the key elements of the brief was to add movement and energy to they site – something we achieved through the introduction of subtle movement, applied across the site.
Another requirement was to deliver an ‘active’ website that takes users on a journey, depending on the intent they show at the start of their interaction with the website, something that was pivotal in the UX design phase to ensure users are guided around the site simply, but purposefully.
As ever, the charity was having issues with managing and updating the old site themselves. It’s a standard thing for us, but we look at UX from the front & back-end and we delivered a site that is now simple and intuitive for the Brightside team to manage and update themselves – we’re always there if needed though.
“The culture you’ve created at Northern Bear is enviable – I’m sure I’m not the only client who wishes they worked for you. You’ve gone above and beyond creating documents, templates, offering extra training and generally sharing your wisdom at every turn. I’ve said it before, but our website was a derelict shack when we contacted you, and now it’s a palace with beautiful interior design and landscaped gardens.”
