Yestermorrow Website Case Study
Background
Yestermorrow Design Build School serves a diverse audience of architects, designers, builders and homeowners. They offer more than 150 courses, ranging from workshops to intensive residential programs.
The Challenges
- Presenting course offerings so people can easily find what interests them.
- Creating an online aesthetic that is consistent with the brand of the design school.
- Empowering Yestermorrow staff to update the website without technical knowledge.
- Working with a limited budget.
The Work
Bluehouse Group took time to understand the motivations and priorities of people interested in Yestermorrow courses. Then we analyzed the course offerings and the rest of the information envisioned for the website. We identified key messages -- that is, those that would resonate with prospective students. We reached an important milestone when we all agreed upon a content map ("information architecture") that would support Yestermorrow's objectives and provide for the best visitor experience.
The original Yestermorrow website didn't accurately reflect the values and expertise of the organization and its faculty.
Bluehouse Group made sure that Yestermorrow's brand was accurately reflected and created a design that would appeal to their core audience as well as the type of students Yestermorrow wanted to attract.
Bluehouse created a clean visual design that represented an evolution of the brand, consistent with the catalog and other printed materials. We then focused on usability design for the courses section of the site. We identified different use-case scenarios, since people's needs vary. The final interface design satisfies every kind of user by offering a variety of ways to filter and search the course offerings. Additional features include:
- Optional photo galleries for each course;
- Video;
- Content management system (CMS), optimized for managing course information.
It was a daunting task for users to try and find the particular course they were looking for on the original Yestermorrow course catalog.
Bluehouse group simplified the catalog view into an easy to read table that users can filter, sort and search for the course they are looking for.
The Results
The new Yestermorrow website:
- Is far easier and more satisfying for visitors to use;
- Looks fresh and contemporary;
- Reinforces the school's brand;
- Generates increased visitor activity and course enrollments;
- Is easy to update and maintain.