Simple Sites

By Viet Le | January 29, 2019

#CASE-STUDY #AWARD #UX / UI #BRANDING-MARKETING

Simple Sites

A website builder that Small Business Owners.

MY ROLE: Lead Product Designer & Founder

WHAT I DID: Product Concept & Design, UX, IA, Visual Design & Branding, Platform Development (Up to MVP Launch) & Led a 16-Person Production Team Post MVP

In 2013, DIY website builders didn't do a great job speaking t̶o̶ with their audience.

Using technical jargon, and offering way too many options, the technology barrier was too intimidating for common business owner's. The platforms lacked utility by essentially offering only one feature, The Page Builder.

Having worked with a lot of small businesses, I've learned first hand their pain points and needs. So, I set out to break the barrier by standardizing how websites were created through the following methods below:

INDUSTRY SEGMENTATION

Selecting functional layouts based on intent

SMART TEMPLATING

Every industry has a set of most commonly used layouts and modules. Use best practices to build a smart templating system by industry.

VISUAL DESIGN LIMITATION

Quit giving creative tools to non-creative users

DESIGN WIZARD

Simplify the visual design process utilizing a visual, multiple choice approach that anyone can understand.

CONTENT AUTOMATION

Auto generate website content based on industry

TEXT SPINNING

Create a successful text spinning formula that generates unique content with minimal errors.

01.

The Brain Dump

Most of my projects start with an intense mind mapping session in which I rapidly jot every word, sentence, or idea that comes to mind. This prevents overthinking and allows me to organize phrases into buckets afterwards. It also spawns sketches and new ideas that I didn't think of and provides a lot of clarity on "what if" workflows. This led to competitor and user research in which I identified salons as the control group.

Planning Map

End-User Flow

Licensing

Section Sketches

Revenue Centers

Dashboard Sketches

02.

System Architecture

After refining the mind maps and user research, I started roughing out some system diagrams, wireframes, and visual designs. I started to realize that my setup was very similar to WordPress MU. So I decided to hack WordPress MU using my framework that layers over the ugly WordPress setup.

Normally, I would diagram the architecture after I finish workflows, but I did this in reverse with a more iterative process to see the capabilities of WordPress MU.

UML

Child Site Wireframe

Live Customer Website

03.

Workflows

There were a lot of different scenarios in which needed to take place. Instead of remapping the WordPress processes, I only mapped the workflows that would require heavy customization. Below are some examples of the final workflows that I created as well as the visual design outcome.

Create Site

Design Wizard

Content Automation

Marketing Campaigns

Landing Page / Site Registration

Salon Ace - Industry Segment Example

Design Wizard

04.

User Gallery

Below are real customer websites that were built using the platform. Websites produced were created at different iterations, so there may be inconsistencies in the structure. I was testing optimal conversion rates between industries.

Impetus Real Estate Auctions

Ultra Pure Systems - Ecommerce

Teava Skincare-Ecommerce

Play Planet Toys-Ecommerce

Vape Sky - Local Business

Knight PR Agency

Basbaas Sauces-Ecommerce

Arriaga Insurance

Surprise Smiles Dental Clinic

Live Customer Website

Highlights

Won Best of the Valley: Web Marketing Firm Award (2016).
Successful Exit in 2016
Major Sponsor of The Grand Prix of Scottsdale
DBusiness Magazine Editor, RJ King Called The Platform, "The most intuitive website maker on the market!"

Simple Sites