Project Summary
May 2021
Design, implementation and maintenance of a Squarespace website for an author and the community of women surrounding her book "Wilding Women" (book to be published Fall/Winter 2022).
Deliverable
Website
Platform
Squarespace
Responsibilities
Content strategy including images and graphics selection, copy strategy, proofreading, and some copywriting
Visual design management: web design, layout, custom CSS, and photo resizing for web
Entry level experience with SEO and Google Search Console
Project management, communication and scheduling with stakeholders based in the U.K.
Employment
Alison Williams | Author, Wilding Women
Volunteer & Freelance
Process
01. Empathize
To gain an understanding of the client’s goals and the needs of the group, I…
Interviewed the client and key stakeholders via Zoom
Read the draft of the client’s book, highlighting key segments I thought best described the Wilding concept and the focus on the art of storytelling.
Attended the group meetings and took notes on group members’ thoughts and feelings raised in the discussion. I also attended a meeting specifically for members to raise any concerns they had about having a publicly accessible website, and to decide what information to keep confidential.
02. Define
Identify Goals
01. Encourage more women to write in, share their stories, and/or join the Wilding group.
02. Market the book.
03. Serve as a source of resources, acknowledgements, and meeting-related details for group members.
Prioritize Features
Using interview notes and my notes from the group meetings, I met with the client and another group member to discuss and refine the key features of the website. We decided that defining the Wilding concept, introducing the book and the author, and inviting people to contact the author were the first features to focus on.
03. Ideate
04./05. Prototype & Test
V1 Release & Feedback
I sent the password to 5 pre-approved people to access the privately published website version 1. I took notes based on emailed feedback I received, and on Zoom conversations I had with 3 of the users regarding misclicks, clarification of menu verbiage, reducing the amount of copy, and some confusion as to the purpose of the site (previously unclear on the homepage).
06. Iterate
I redesigned the homepage and put different topics in the cards based on users’ and client’s feedback. Working together with the client, we reduced the copy. I simplified some of the menu verbiage based on some users’ confusion with with where to find certain information.
I published the site and entered it into Google Search Console to monitor site traffic and discover any potential issues with the site design or domain.