Four Amazing Web Redesigns

Here are some recent redesigns that caught our eye. Do you have others in mind that we should check out? Add them in the comments section on this article and tell us what you think the brand did well in re-envisioning its online presence.

Site: http://www.americanstandard-us.com/

Why did you redesign the site?

Jeannette Long, director of marketing communications, American Standard Brands, says:
The core goal of the redesign was to create a site that addressed the needs of our varied audiences. AmericanStandard.com is a website used by various channel partners and consumers, so creating one site that properly served each group was no small task. Our goal was to provide important information needed to make product or project decisions in a well organized, easy-to-navigate structure. Throughout the course of the project, we made sure the site was fast, easy, and clear. Those priorities were at the heart of each decision. We also added enhanced functionality and content that would be useful for our visitors: a new manufacturer cross reference, water savings calculator, product videos, water saving rebate locator, e-learning section, and much more.

What was the biggest change from drawing board to final product?

Long says:
The initial project plan called for an entire new visitor interface to be built on top of the existing data architecture. Shortly into the project, it became obvious that in order to support the new site structure and content organization, database changes were needed. Although this was not part of the original scope, we realized it was necessary to expand our scope to support the new expanded functionality. The end product resulted in building an entirely new relational database optimized for site performance.

What we liked
Anyone who has ever remodeled a bathroom or kitchen is going to be impressed with the new American Standard website, which does an excellent job of putting a wealth of information on the front page. Dig a little deeper, and users can find peer reviews of the products, which is a great touch. Additionally, the site’s creative does a nice job of tapping into the growing green movement both in terms of imagery and, more importantly, giving consumers access to information that helps them make eco-friendly purchasing decisions.

What we’d love to see in 2.0
Opening up to user comments was a nice step. But we’d like to see the brand take that idea to the next level by allowing users to upload pictures of their bathroom and kitchen remodels, which would be a nice complement to the “Inspiration Gallery” because it would showcase what real people did with the product.

Site: http://www.wolfgangpuck.com/

What was the core goal of the redesign, and how does the new site accomplish that goal?

Jennifer Nichols, account manager, SiteLab Interactive, says:
[We wanted] to capture the spirit of Wolfgang Puck with high-impact video, motion and sound, better content organization, and a more user-friendly experience. [Our] main objectives are to engage visitors, connect them emotionally to Wolfgang Puck, and introduce them to the company’s businesses and products offerings. [We wanted to] present the three business units (catering, restaurants, and retail) in a thoughtful and strategic way that makes sense to the consumer, while achieving each business unit’s objectives.

What element of the new site are you most proud of?

Nichols says:
The element we’re most proud of on the new site is the one you can’t see — the backend site management tool [that] allows the client to update just about every section of the website. Along with this, updates to any one section of the site permeate anything it is integrated with. For example, updates to the address on a restaurant updates the map; updates to the photo gallery for a catering venue doesn’t require updates to the link where it can be accessed from the venue page.

What we liked
Some brands struggle to find their personality, but when your brand is based on a celebrity chef, the human touch just goes with the territory. But where most sites would have personalized the experience with a blog (which is great, if your celeb can update it often), WolfgangPuck.com makes use of tons of video footage to give users a one-on-one feel that begins with a genuine video introduction from the man himself.

What we’d love to see in 2.0
Wolfgang Puck is known as a chef to the stars. While there are some nice anecdotes about celebrities like Tom Cruise and his love for Puck’s cheeseburgers, we’d get a kick out of actually seeing a celeb or two chowing down at Puck’s table.

Site: http://www.ringling.com/

What was the core goal of the redesign, and how does the new site accomplish that goal?

Vicki Silver, CMO, Feld Entertainment, says:
A Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey show is a full sensory experience, especially in the largest arenas. The goal of the new Ringling Bros. website is to present the brand and the shows (Ringling Bros. has three touring units) in a way that is fun, exciting, and captivating — ultimately to convince “mom” (our primary target) that the circus is simply “unmissable” and the best entertainment choice she can make for her entire family.

We accomplished the goal by combining web development technology (Flash animation) to capture the spirit of the Ringling Bros. brand with a powerful animation of the circus train traveling through the country, and then allowing visitors to navigate via fun train cars. The site allows a glimpse into each show and is only a ZIP code entry and a click away from purchasing tickets on our ticketing partners’ sites.

A redesign is a big undertaking. How do you know when a site needs a redesign and when it just needs to make a few changes? Is it always part of a larger campaign, or can the redesign happen in isolation?

Silver says:
For Feld Entertainment, we kept a close eye on how technology was evolving along with its penetration rate among our audience. We wanted the Ringling Bros. site experience to be as exciting as the show itself, and to do that, we had to ensure the majority of our site visitors had the bandwidth to enjoy the site versus having a frustrating experience.

A site design can either be done as part of a larger campaign or in isolation. The specifics of that answer lie in your business model. Ringling Bros. is one of America’s best-known brands, but we market our shows locally versus nationally. We also have several different campaigns running concurrently based on the specific show coming to your hometown. Given those two parameters, launching the website independent of other activity was an appropriate decision. However, each show is represented within the site in aesthetic and strategic harmony with its offline and online marketing campaigns.

What we liked
While moms may be the target audience in terms of the purse strings, it’s pretty clear that the brand’s primary advocates are children of all ages. In that sense, the site works on two levels, but the key is that technical details like scheduling and tickets rest in the lower portion of the screen, close enough for mom to make use of those tools, but distinct from the fun, which makes up the bulk of the experience. One particularly nice touch is a repeating audio file that delivers the circus experience. While adults may get their fill of the music in a minute or two, it’s one of those things kids are likely to enjoy until… well, the circus comes to town.

What we’d love to see in 2.0
Video, video, and more video. While there’s some video on the site already, there’s certainly room for more, and it should definitely be in a full-size, high-resolution player next time around so that circus fans can see what’s in store and re-live their favorite moments.

Site: http://www.lee.com/

What was the core goal of the redesign, and how does the new site accomplish that goal?

Brien Grant, VP and group creative director, Olson, says:
The core goal of the redesign was to maximize Lee’s only direct selling channel. With retailers folding at every turn and being ever more conservative with how many brands they carry and how much shelf space they dedicate to those brands, it was a fairly obvious choice. To reach that goal, we’ve implemented a much more scalable and flexible technology platform and overall user experience that will support Lee’s growth goals. Ultimately, we made a site that could “tell” as well as it could “sell,” making it as easy for Lee to tell the brand’s story as it is to sell its product. From a customer’s perspective, we’ve made the overall site experience much richer, bringing the brand forward and making the shopping experience more simple, human, and engaging.

A redesign is a big undertaking. How does a client know when they need a redesign, and when they just need to make a few changes? Is it always part of a larger campaign, or can the redesign happen in isolation?

Grant says:
You always need to delta this against what objectives and priorities are in place for the site. Lee wanted a site that could both “tell” and “sell.” The old site had served it well, but over the years, it had “tape-balled” into a hodgepodge of hard to navigate different features and content. And the big kicker was that the site’s platform could no longer offer Lee the flexibility it needed to support growth goals. When we added up all of our wants and needs for the new site, we asked ourselves: Would it be better, faster, cheaper to re-engineer the old site or create a new site from scratch? The answer we quickly reached was that we needed a new site. To the second point of your question, our focus was to build a platform that was on-brand for Lee but campaign agnostic — we wanted the flexibility to incorporate any campaign or features we could dream up.

What we liked
Buying a pair of jeans comes down to triangulating three factors: waist size, inseam length, and style. But while there are a number of styles, shapes, and sizes on the market, it’s hard to know what fit works best for you. One nice feature on the Lee.com site is that the brand has taken the guesswork out of that process with a two-pronged sizing tool. In the left column, users can select what type of fit they prefer (e.g., a flex or traditional waistband). While over in the right column, one of Lee’s designers explains the merits of each choice and who might prefer a given style.

What we’d love to see in 2.0
While we give the site high marks for honing in on Lee’s core value (the perfect fit), the site isn’t as sexy or as exciting as it could be. We are talking about jeans, after all, not business suits. There may have been a decision to position Lee as a more utilitarian product, but with clothing, it never hurts to ratchet up the sex appeal. More sex appeal for the photos on the site would be a nice touch, but for a brand like Lee, there’s certainly got to be enough consumer interest to sustain a feature that allows users to upload their own sexy (but not too sexy) pictures illustrating how the brand fits them perfectly.

Source:iMedia Connection