ROLE
Web UI Design, UX Research, WordPress
TIME
December 2024 to March 2025
TOOLS
Wordpress, Beaver Builder, Figma
TYPE
Cross Compatibility Website
PROBLEM
EFS Setbacks
The previous site had been edited over time by multiple people unfamiliar with web design, resulting in inconsistent fonts, spacing, and styles across every page.
Beyond the visual inconsistency, the site lacked clear hierarchy and efficient navigation. Users could get from point A to point B, but locating things quickly was a struggle.
For a company built on craftsmanship and attention to detail, a website that felt tedious to navigate was actively working against them.
ROLE
My Involvement
Draft
Wire framing, prototyping, and client communication throughout the project
Meeting
Collaborated directly with the client through ongoing feedback sessions to align on vision, structure, and priorities
Implement
Frontend component development and user testing across two rounds of validation
PROBLEM
A Broader Table
school administrators
facility managers
institutional buyers
Overall these were buyers shopping for classroom, office, and public space furniture. They were busy, task-oriented people with a specific need in mind. Most were not design-oriented, so they valued clarity and straightforward navigation above everything else.
RESEARCH & WIREFRAMING
Finding the Shape
The alpha wire framing was highly collaborative, due to the fact the client had not fully made any firm decisions on the structure.
Each round of feedback brought more clarity. Meeting after meeting, two priorities emerged: improving navigation flow and establishing a stronger content hierarchy, both immediately noticeable to users on arrival.
REFINEMENTS
Changes to be Made
All changes were tested through an alpha phase before touching the live site. Key decisions included:
Color Addition
Expanding the color palette beyond a single green by introducing gold and red accents, adding visual range without losing cohesion
Slogan
Adding a hero slogan paired with furniture imagery so users could immediately understand what EFS sells
Cutting Navigation
Cutting excess sub-navigation options to reduce cognitive load
Micro-animations
Introducing subtle scroll-triggered micro animations to add feedback without overwhelming a function-first user base
USABILITY TESTING/RESULTS
Putting it to the Test
Two rounds of user testing validated the redesign with measurable improvements across every metric. The results confirmed the changes were working functionally, not just visually.
Company recognition in a 10-second scan improved from 3/5 to 4.5/5, a 30% increase
Average task completion time dropped from 1 minute 34 seconds to 46 seconds, a 51% improvement
Appearance rating climbed from 3.8/5 to 4.6/5, a 21% increase
Users described the site as "self-explanatory" and responded positively to the consistency and animations
Beyond the metrics, the site was handed off on a maintainable foundation. Over 1,000 redundant images were compressed, unnecessary plugins were removed, and the client's team was walked through basic maintenance practices so the work would hold up long after handoff.