Desktop Experience and Navigation Redesign
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Design Problem
The desktop experience of washingtonian.com didn’t offer a rich experience for users.
There were not many ways users could find content and navigability across the site was lacking.
The design was purposefully stripped down and simplified in 2016 from a previously cluttered and confusing design; however, this new, mobile-first design left desktop users feeling like the site was too bare.
Click on the images to see the progression of the Washingtonian homepage designs from 2015-2017.
Research & Findings
We studied user behavior from Google Analytics and then polled users online to see why they came to Washingtonian. Did they come for the food news and restaurants reviews? Were they looking for things to do around the DC area? Or did they political commentary and magazine features?
The data from Google Analytics for the month we polled users was comparable to users’ responses to why they came to Washingtonian. Thirty-two percent of respondents said they came to us for food content, 26% of respondents said they came to us to learn about events and things to do, and 14% of respondents said they came to us for news.
Here’s how that compares to Google Analytics:
We also interviewed key stakeholders (editorial staff, advertising reps, and our publisher) to learn what they liked and disliked about the site design and what KPIs they were interested in improving.
Stakeholders liked the simplicity of the design and how easy-to-read the site was, but they wanted to see more navigability across the site and an increase in user engagement. Our site didn’t lend itself to exploration or entice users to stick around to read more content. Stakeholders in our advertising department cited concerns about navigability as well, saying that it was difficult to find Washingtonian’s “best” listings. They would also like to see more of a distinction between editorial and sponsored content.
Finally, we conducted a competitive analysis, layout comparison, and quantitative Heuristic evaluation of Washingtonian’s website compared to competitors. Looking at the Washingtonian website under this lens, we learned of site design standards and patterns that our readers were likely used to and may expect to see on our own site.
Click on the images below to view the sketches, personas, and competitor analysis completed after user interviews and analyzing Google Analytics.
Measuring Success
From this user research and design process, we came away with four KPIs we hoped to increase with a desktop and navigation redesign:
- Pages/session (Are users sticking around?)
- Session duration (Are they engaged?)
- Pageviews to Washingtonian finders (Can people find our “best” listings?)
- Bounce rate (How quickly are people leaving the site?)
Post-Design Results
Comparing the site redesign launch year (October 1, 2016-September 31, 2017) to the previous year (October 1, 2015-September 31, 2016), all KPIs improved:
- Pages/session increased by 7%
- Session durations increased by 104.46%
- Pageviews to Washingtonian finders increased by 328.35%
- Bounce rate decreased from 79.02% to 36.13%
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