CHALLENGE

To create a new web site and on-line catalogue for a a luxury interior and furniture design firm.

REQUIREMENTS AND RESEARCH

The new site was to be part of their recent re-branding and new headquarter launch. It needed to include the company’s portfolio, as well as catalogue for their luxury line of furniture and textiles.  The site also had to be built in Flash.

I conducted benchmarking exercises with other luxury sites who were had catalogues and portfolios.

I also interviewed the founders of Powell and Bonnell as well as conducted interviews with the owners and sales staff in each of the showrooms that carried the Powell and Bonnell furniture line.

From these interviews, I gathered all of the business requirements and functionality for the new site.

INTERFACE

The interface had to be minimal, clear, on-brand and convey a sense of restrained luxury. A due to the fact that it was a portfolio and catalogue site, the interface had to be scale-able to accommodate an expanding product line.

The site needed to be as easy to use as possible as it was the main digital tool that many showrooms across Canada, the United States and Mexico to sell and promote the brand.

WIRE-FRAMES AND MOCK-UPS

Wire frames and high-fidelity mock ups were developed and shared with the founding partners, the manager of services as well as the sales representatives in each of the showrooms across North America.

USER TESTING

During building of the site, I scheduled frequent, informal testing sessions with internal staff and showroom sales staff to test navigation ease of browsing, as well as the ability to quickly and easily find specific products in the catalogue.

OUTCOME

Once launched, users and sales staff were extremely happy with the new look and feel, as well as the ease of use for either browsing or viewing products. Data was not in the scope of this project, nor were there any specific KPIs. Positive feedback from customers and sales staff was far more important.