Redesigning a company website that made staff proud to share
The problem
The existing McMillan Shakespeare website was a poor reflection of the organisation.
Inadequate navigation and information architecture meant that visitors could not find what they were looking for. Additionally, a rushed visual style and build meant that the website was not visually appealing.
High-level results
4 star rating for ease of use of the website
4 star rating for look (UI) of the website
"I like it. It's very clean. It enables you to get the type of information you need very quickly with very little guess work." —Participant 3 (from usability testing)
”I thought it's self-explanatory. It has what you need to find the information that you're looking for.” —Participant 4 (from usability testing)
Design process
Requested analytics early in the project, identifying that 84% of users accessed the site via desktop and used this insight to guide a desktop-first design approach
Worked from the initial content and information architecture provided by Corporate Communications team to design clear, engaging and user-friendly page experiences for each of the three audience groups
Using existing AEM components from subsidiary brand websites as a foundation, I focused on creating a cohesive experience across the site by establishing consistent page patterns, improving readability and supporting intuitive navigation throughout the new structure.
Accessibility was prioritised throughout the project, with designs aligned to Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.2 and detailed accessibility annotations were provided to developers for implementation
Usability testing
Planned and facilitated remote moderated usability testing with three user groups: Investors, prospective employees and prospective clients
Conducted 1 hour sessions combining task-based and exploratory activities to assess navigation, content clarity and overall usability
Achieved a 95% success rate across task-based activities for all three user groups, helping validate the new structure
Identified usability issues and areas for improvement early, allowing refinements to be made before development began
Change from usability testing
The navigation included an external link to an Investor login centre (to the left of the Contact us button).
Participants were initially trying to select this link when asked to look for where they would find the company's reports and notices.
The external link now only lives under the 'Investors' dropdown.
Internal feedback
The website has been very positively recieved throughout the organisation.
"I am very happy with how the new McMillan Shakespeare company website has turned out. The new design is clean, modern and reflects our premium brand." —Senior Communications Specialist
"The new site design is clean, modern and above all easy to view and navigate. Gone is the difficulty of trying to find information we had with the old site." —Head of Corporate Communications
Outcome
The redesigned website tested positively across all three audience groups, receiving 4-star ratings for both ease of use and visual design. Participants consistently described the experience as clear, clean and easy to navigate.