Website redesign for Cloud 9 Walkers , a horse breeder & horse-boarding business based in Texas, US.
Original Redesign on Home page (Desktop)Homepage Redesign (Desktop)Individual Horse Page (Desktop)User Panel for potential buyers (Desktop)
Room for Improvement
Cloud 9 Walkers' main business goal is to sell the gaited horses that they breed, raised, and trained. They also provide a series of pre- and post-sales services.
Unfortunately, it is difficult for users to understand this / find relevant information solely by visiting their website. Their horse-buying procedures are also relatively manual and outdated.
Original site - scrolling Home page (Desktop)
Here are the major issues I summarized:
Website information is not categorized - difficult to find information one needs, contributing to a 1) high bounce rate, and a 2) high percentage of enquiries that ask really basic questions.
Potential buyers need to phone-in/ send emails to arrange horse-viewing - potentially receiving less bookings and requires more effort to manage because it lacks a content management system to centrally store bookings and sales data.
Customers need to send emails to leave feedbacks - potentially receiving less reviews which is disadvantageous in terms of SEO and sales.
Baseline Statistics
Brand & Site Performance before Site RedesignSite Performance before Site Redesign
Competitive Analysis
Analysis on leading Online Horse Market Platform, EquineNowAnalysis on leading horse breeder in North America Region, Canadian Hay Ranch
User Archetypes, Persona & Customer Journey Map
Two User Archetypes & Persona of main User ArchetypePersona of main User Archetype (cont.)Persona of main User Archetype (cont.)Customer Journey Map of main User Archetype
Understanding the Equine Industry
Created a Concept Map to understand the equine industry
Information Architecture
Instead of listing all information as long paragraphs on Home page, I categorized information based on functionality:
Overall SitemapSitemap after user clicks on any of the CTA (indicated in yellow and navy)
Allow Browsing by Facets:
Some site visitors may already know what types of horse they want. Instead of letting them scroll through all horses, I decided to allow them to browse by below facets so they can ‘locate’ their dream horses more efficiently.
Facets to Browse By
New elements to ease User Experience:
'How it Works' section - step-by-step illustration, for easier understanding of the complex horse-buying procedures & company service features.
Demonstration of 'How it Works' on home page (Mobile)
User Panel - for easier revisiting of 'saved' horses' pages, easier communication between users and Cloud 9 Walkers, easier booking management, & easier to leave feedbacks on the embedded Google reviews form.
Demonstration of User Panel (Desktop)
Final Touch
Meta Tags Implementation:
Meta Tags provide data about a website to search engines and website visitors. I decided to implement that because they make it easier for search engines to determine what the site content is about, and are vital for SEO.
