Designing a modern and professional website for the UR Synchro team, who consistently place in the top 12 at national competitions despite their small size.
My Process
- Research and compare: Analysis of some of the major university varsity sports web pages.
- Feedback and update: I spoke with the coach of the team early on in order to get her thoughts on what should go into the site.
- Prototype: I had a strong vision of how I wanted the new site design to look and feel, and I knew that Axure is a very powerful tool for high-fidelity, true-to-reality prototypes.
- Iterate and hand-off: After showing the prototype to the coach and the current team, I made some updates and started handing off the design to the developer.
- Learn GraphCMS: Together with the coach and the developer, we determined that the best overall experience when updating the site would be to keep myself involved. So I learned GraphCMS basics in order to accommodate change requests.
- Communicate and manage changes: Since completing the project, I have kept an open line of communication with the coach in order to ensure satisfaction and meet the needs of any updates.
Research & Analytics
I conducted exploratory research to gain insight into the collegiate sports space.
- Competitor analysis of varsity and club sports team sites.
- Analysis of other University of Richmond sports team sites for branding.
- Informal interviews with the coach and team to understand expectations and primary use cases.
Core Principles
Clear
- The primary use of the site is to inform visitors about the current team and schedule, so that information needed to be prioritized.
Accessible
- It was important that all information and functions on the site are available to all visitors.
Clean and simple
- The previous website was very dated. I needed a design that would feel modern but not need to be redesigned for new trends.
Flexible
- The site needs to be updated at least once a year, so it was clear that we needed to create a system that would allow for easy modifications.
Project Execution
Using the content from the existing website, I started by creating a static design in Adobe XD. Then I created a hi-fidelity prototype in Axure RP, which I used to demonstrate the new site to the coaches and athletes. With their approval, I worked with a developer to build the site and adjusted the design as we encountered constraints.
Result
I delivered the final site design, then worked closely with a developer to produce the end result. Today, I communicate with the coach regularly to manage updates.
Gallery
Aayla completely redid our team's website. She was creative and professional, and we ended with an incredible product. We are grateful for her meticulous work on something that had long gone ignored. Aayla was also very communicative as we completed the process. A million thanks to her! — Asha Bandal, UR Synchro Head Coach
