My Role
Website Developer, Coordinate Photography, Branding Design, Merchandise, and Business cards.
Challenges
Using Squarespace to host and design the website.
Portray to users that Universal Stone is a reliable countertop installer and supplier of high-end stone.
The Problem
Does the user want to see Universal Stone on a Web Platform?
Yes, stake holders may want to reference Universal Stone and its showcase of stone options and projects, however, the platform is not meant to draw new business leads.
How can we avoid homeowners contacting businesses about stone countertops?Answering calls and emails from homeowners can waste a lot of time for the employees. The website should indicate that this company does not supply individual homeowners and rather, only supplies multi-family and commercial properties.
How do we stand out from other companies?
The installation crew's effectiveness is the key to success in developing repeat clients. Along with the lower cost for overseas production and showing how beautiful the stone looks in the buildings through professional photography.
User Research
Who Works with Universal Stone?
Architects and contractors. This is where the desktop website has its spotlight. When you're in the architecture firm or on the job site in the trailer- desktops are most commonly used. So Universal Stone's website should focus more on desktops and still have a responsive website for easy viewing on the phone if they are in the field.
Evergreen's construction management team
Kephart's architects, designer and associates.
Commercial Construction Contractor
Examples: MPC, Evergreen, and Bryan Construction
Philosophy & Goals
Earn trust, and build relationships. develop community, deliver excellence, and established long-standing relationships.
Frustrations
Reliable internet while in the field, a long list of tasks to finish, and communication with a lot of sub-contractors.
Architects & Interior Designers
Examples: Kephart, KTGY Group, and JG Johnson Architects
Philosophy & Goals
Designing award-winning homes and communities, pursuing intelligent design solutions and maintaining transparent, collaborative, and rewarding relationships
Frustrations
Lack of open communication on site designs not being implamented as they hoped. Project budget and timeline crunches.
Establishing Trust
How does Universal Stone work?
Adding a step-by-step process of how the stone countertop goes from ordering to completely being installed on the website enables trust and visibility of the inner workings to the architects and contractors. This leads to their goals of establishing long-term relationships.
Showcasing Projects
The website needed to highlight a few featured projects with multiple examples of different project types without being overwhelming. The project description page needed to showcase our relationship with our clients, job sizes, and what type of stone was supplied.
Drive users to view product options.
Minimalism is the key to showing off beautiful works of nature.
Stone option page needs to be simple and minimal where users could browse easily, know the names and compare stone options quickly.
What I learned
Designing in Squarespace allows for quick iteration and double-checking website functionality on mobile, desktop, and tablet. It has a great feel for minimalism and makes options easy. It is a great option for small businesses that need a quick and efficient website.
I learned I should have started with sketching ideas for the site layout before jumping right into building-in software. I feel I could have worked on spacing and alignment first and then moved into the content.
Future Me
I would like to make another version of this website using my new knowledge from UI Bootcamp and re-design it in Figma.
I would also like to do more research into competitors, journey mapping, info architecture, and user task flow.
Finally, I want to go back and focus more on the mobile app & possibly design an app that could be used on-site where the installation team, contractors, and architects can see all the countertop drawings and what rooms have different stone countertops.
