A User-Centered website design for Abriss Schuhmacher

Abriss Schuhmacher is a demolition company. The company was exploring the opportunity to establish an online presence.

They were seeking a way to expand their online reach and attract more clients.

This is why I developed a solution that could help the company improve its search engine rankings and expand its social media presence.

The idea was to develop a website that would serve as a showcase of their services and a platform where people could find helpful tips for their next demolition project.

From the initial meeting, it is evident that the demolition industry is complex and requires careful ranking and convincing potential clients to book a service. You need to be there, so people can eventually see you and choose you.

Especially since this will be a new website and Abriss Schuhmacher has not leveraged this digital channel before, there was no presence at all.

Design and develop a digital platform that is user-friendly, visually modern, and effectively presents the company as a leading industry player.

To be perceived as a leader, the website alone would not be enough. We needed to tie it together with a solid social media presence and a comprehensive content plan.

Research into competitors revealed that many had blogs, which they used to educate and offer valuable tips to potential clients.

This also meant that they were leveraging some content marketing.

However, their websites were confusing, outdated, and not user-friendly, lacking clear UX considerations. The content was scattered across the canvas, with no clear purpose.

I understand that you have to start somewhere; however, the lack of development and progress on the site suggests that the products were placed there with no consideration for the user or the business.

This was a point that we could use to improve Abriss Schuhmacher's chances of gaining more reach and traffic.

My idea was to present the company as a partner that can help the end client with their goal. And this was not the demolition itself. This was the development of the real estate. Preparing the land for something new; give it new life.

The first step was to prepare a navigation tree with only the main categories.

These main categories include About, Services (with a dropdown), a blog page, and a contact page.

The service pages were SEO-optimized, so the names are not random, but terms that can help boost traffic once the website is live. The service page names were written descriptively, so users can easily recognize the service.

Dropdown pages:

The first step was to prepare a navigation tree with only the main categories.

These main categories include About, Services (with a dropdown), a blog page, and a contact page.

The service pages were SEO-optimized, so the names are not random, but terms that can help boost traffic once the website is live. The service page names were written descriptively, so users can easily recognize the service.

Both the email and phone icons are clickable for easy access on mobile devices.

While the phone number is also typed out for easy copying, it is also clickable.

As these are essential elements, they are positioned correctly. This takes into account the way we read, from left to right.

Social accounts are visible in the left corner to provide social proof of the company.

The initial design did not account for this, but after a few months, it was discovered that this could enhance the CTR and increase calls.

Initially, the client didn’t want this part of their online presence. They argued that the website alone would be sufficient.

However, after a few meetings, I demonstrated, using other online examples, that the content can help them attract more people to the website and increase their chances of generating revenue.

This way, the company could position itself as an expert in demolition.

After a few months, we also agreed to create a social media posting plan to promote the business.

The plan spanned 3 months and consisted of blog posts condensed into concise social media pieces, each accompanied by links to the original blog posts.

I was preparing the images and blog posts for the website to increase traffic and reach of the brand.

Let’s start with the good.

Additionally, we achieved the second objective of driving organic traffic from blog posts, despite the tight budget.

However, in my opinion, we failed the third objective—the goal of a seamless user experience.

As mentioned above, we failed the third objective. The reason behind this was that after reaching 800 visitors, the company's leadership felt that my help was no longer needed.

Subsequently, my role was reduced to keeping the website running.

The time we reached roughly 1000 visitors called for increased monitoring and analysis, which would have improved the website’s CTAs, copy, and flow; however, this never happened.

My job as a UI/UX designer is more than just creating the visuals and informational architecture. It is about providing the strategy. However, with enough time, the website can also be adapted and improved. Unfortunately, this didn’t happen.

This part is on me. I should communicate more effectively with stakeholders and demonstrate the value. Despite this, I enjoyed the time spent on the project and understand their constraints for not proceeding with the improvements.

All in all, with the time provided, the project was a success.