Muvz operates multiple child sites, such as parkingblock.com and stopsigns.com, so they can target specific niches within the B2B safety industry through SEO marketing. I lead the charge in creating an easy-to-implement custom template and design system that would decrease development time to mere days, giving the sales team the speed to shift with the ever changing market.
Problem
A Needed Redesign
The design of the child sites were inconsistent and outdated, and did not offer an optimal purchasing experience for customers. From pixelated photos to the unprofessional veneer, Google was knocking these sites due to lack of optimization.
Muvz's marketing relies heavily on SEO to court smaller customer bases. Having these child sites remain as they were was running counter to their goals.
Yet, stakeholders were questioning if the time needed to build these websites was worth it. A medium-cap company has limited resources, and the parent site, trafficsafetystore.com, was doing just fine. The small tech team already had a 5K long list of things to do.
My Proposal
Built for Speed
I proposed the idea of designing a custom e-commerce template specific to Muv's needs using Figma's libraries and robust dev tools.
I would create custom components and classes that the engineers could easily update and change to the child website's branding.
The goal, once it was built, was to deploy new child websites in days, not weeks.
Research
Years of Data from Customers
To achieve consistency and scalability, we drew from data we had from years of A/B tests, user interviews and research conducted through the parent site trafficsafetystore.com.
Through testing, Muvz's customers like product cards, have a negativity toward flashy animations, and an unshakeable love for price grids. These, among many other insights, made it easy to create reusable components, color systems, and typography systems that would create a cohesive visual identity across all child brands.
With this approach, we hoped that new customers would have a better experience overall, while returning customers would find the new site familiar yet significantly improved.
Solution
Fast Deliverables
We decided to test this method with parkingblock.com, which not only needed the most design love, but had a high volume of organic visitors. We needed it to deliver an intuitive experience for construction professionals, allowing them to quickly locate and purchase parking-specific products without navigating the vast inventory of the main site.
Feedback
Orders Doubled on the First Day
The updated UX experience and the coat of fresh paint lead to a doubling of orders. Stakeholders were thrilled and bought in. I was able to prove it was worth investing in the design of these sites, as customers were clearly interested.
It wasn't over yet. Now that the templates, libraries, components and systems were built, it was time to see how quickly we could deploy the next website.
The stakeholders recently purchased stopsigns.com, a sought after web domain with a huge amount of organic traffic.
With everyone on board, we executed the plan.
KPIs
Stopsigns.com Deployed in 5 Days
Through the design system I created, the new child website was deployed in a single week. The bulk of that time was allocated to the C-Suite. They decided what exact products they wanted for each site, and how it integrated into their SEO strategy.
We delivered a powerful tool for the marketing team, and the sales reflected it.
Reflection
Connecting Business and User Needs
As designers, we can't see problems as an end, but a beginning. Any poker player know you have to work with the hand you were dealt. No longer was our lack of staff a liability to us. We innovated our way around a problem, and for that I am very proud.