Website redesign & build for the Edmonton Native Plant Society
| Project Type: | Capstone Project – Website redesign, WordPress theme development |
| My Roles: | Prototyping, Web Design, UX, UI, Web Development |
| Client: | Edmonton Native Plant Society |
| Tools: | Adobe XD, HTML, CSS, JavaScript, WordPress, Adobe Photoshop, Miro |
| Year: | 2021 |
Objective
To create a user-friendly website for users to learn more about Edmonton’s native plants.
About the project
The Edmonton Native Plant Society wanted their existing website to be remade. My Capstone group and I followed the Design Sprint process and created low- and high-fidelity wireframes using Adobe XD. I was involved with the user testing and adjusting the prototypes according to the user feedback.
I was also solely responsible for the development phase of the project, working with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript to build a custom WordPress theme.
User testing
The client also had specific wants and requirements for her website, such as having the name “Catalogue” for the page where the user can buy plants and seeds. However, through user testing, my team and I found that “Catalogue” was confusing for users as they didn’t realize they could buy plants from that page.
From the user feedback, my team and I renamed the page “Catalogue” to “Shop” to avoid the confusion of what a “Catalogue” was. The “Shop” name is also more succinct and clearly describes what the page is rather than “Catalogue”.
Challenges
Unfortunately, two of our group members withdrew from the Capstone course mid-semester. I became solely responsible for the development process of this website, as my remaining group member continued to build the Solomon Vance website. As I am more comfortable with the design side, it was a bit of a challenge for me to build the site with WordPress by myself.
My instructor also noted that it would be understandable if I were unable to complete the website given the circumstances. It was certainly stressful for me as my group was already a little bit behind on schedule, and I was also preoccupied with assignments from my other courses.
Result
I was able to complete the website and migrated the website from NAIT’s server to the client’s hosting. I also wrote a brief user manual for the client on how to use some of the basic features on the WordPress dashboard.
It was a great experience working with a real client and working to both meet their wants but also making sure that everything is user-friendly and easy to understand for all types of users.
Though it was a challenge to build the website myself, it was also rewarding and fulfilling to be able to complete the website from the brainstorming phase to the end of development.
