ORE designs and engineers upscale planters and related elements for “refined environments”. They needed a website that explained their process, showed their expertise, and allowed professionals to order standard items or custom work.

Quick Intro & Result

As the UX strategist on this project, I was a bit overwhelmed. Questions and understanding were key. It was a true team effort which resulted in an enormous and complex site, that is simple and straightforward for its users.

Note: Before this site was created, most orders and questions were received through ORE’s secretary.

  • This sitemap doesn’t represent the current website. It was a starting point and began a process of discovery with the client.

    ORE is great at what they do, but they didn’t have a high-level map of how they wanted to utilize a website.

    The sitemap helped us communicate. They saw my understanding of their needs and processes, allowing them to give focused feedback and explanations.

  • A large project such as this can be overwhelming.

    I needed to visually understand the website as whole and to identify which modules (blocks of content and elements) could be reused by the development team to save time.

    My manager had a great idea to print out the wireframe pages in order to see how they could work together.

  • How does the design look on mobile device?

    With a site this complex it was very important to create the mobile wireframes concurrently with the desktop.

    There was no point in getting the client excited about a tab system or flow that wasn’t then possible on mobile.

My Role

As the UX strategist, I ask questions, create a sitemaps/ information architectures, and construct wireframes used by the design and development teams to meet project goals. These result in a clickable Figma prototype for desktop and mobile that are shared with the client for feedback and approval.

Note: I work with an amazing team. My contributions live between the brand and design folks, in a waterfall methodology. I also communicate with the development team, especially when crafting filters :) I did not create these websites, but I helped make them more usable.

I was assigned to this project after much of the discovery phase was completed. I relied on my director’s journey maps to understand the needs and opportunities of ORE’s new website. There were multiple user flows to design. The Pre-Designed Product flow was particularly complex.

ORE’s website needs and my approach:

Client Needs

My Approach

Client Needs

My Approach

Client Needs

My Approach

The ordering flow had to work autonomously to free up valuable sales rep time.

For customers to effectively and easily create orders, the product pages were equipped for usability with:

• Bread crumbs

• Feedback indication

• Persistent list of selections

• System status indication

• Option tool tips

• Downloadable spec sheets

• Updateable cart

The design team did an amazing job merging these elements into a harmonious design that moves customers through the ordering process with ease.

1- Educate audiences.

Measuring: Project scope did not include testing. A survey of sales reps regarding client website use could’ve led to increased insights on friction points or common questions.

ORE’s comprehensive and complex content would overwhelm customers.

Utilizing images and video modules to describe the company’s systems, operation, and culture made the extensive information approachable and engaging.

2- Refine Pre-Designed Product ordering.

Measuring: While we didn’t have the resources for testing with actual customers, the wireframes were shown as low-fidelity prototypes to multiple Struck teams and optimized with their feedback.

To create a custom environment designed by ORE, detailed project information is required.

I mirrored a simple and familiar eCommerce checkout flow that comfortably leads customers through the information collection process and quote submission.

3- Collect custom quotes.

Measuring: An affordable way to measure this flow’s success would be to set up short interviews with the sales reps (3-6 months after launch) and get feedback on the process.