4 Designs in 4 weeks

Unsolicited website redesigns for influential companies in Latin America

Since I moved from Europe to Latin America, it’s hard to miss the difference between digital design standards. I come across influential companies with outdated websites daily, so I decided to start redesigning unsolicitedly.

Sometimes tackling complicated issues with advanced strategies found in random articles on UX best practices, often just to make it look more attractive.

For each victim I’ll describe 3 key elements that inspired me to create the redesign. The current version shown on the left, my interpretation on the right.

#1: Sika

Sika has branches all over the world, but I selected Sika Panamá to make it more feasible.

• Yellow overkill
• Confusing navigation patterns
• Low-res boxed photography

#2: Banco General

Comparing this website to that of the bank I’m used to, it looks like it hasn’t had an update in a couple of years. I believe this affects its (lack of) involvement with the customers.

• Distorted photography, background images and other graphics
• Too many floating content boxes
• Too much clickable distractions all over the page

#3: OLX

OLX is similar to Ebay, anyone can buy and/or sell whatever product.

• Video takes up a lot of space and doesn’t cut to the point directly (I’d relocate it to the about page)
• Photos taken by clients aren’t very attractive to show on homepage
• The categories CTA’s drop far below the fold

#4: Panafoto

Panafoto is one of Panama’s go-to stores if you need a new TV, computer or any type of fancy electronic gadget.

• Image overkill, too much product photos crowded together. Feels a lot like quantity over quality.
• 7 Items in the slider
• Inefficient real estate in navigation: 1. large logo — 2. secondary navigation — 3. search — 4. main menu

Conclusion

I think the obvious mistake throughout all participants is the overload of options that is being offered from the second you open the page.

I tend to design my interfaces with a bare minimum of CTA’s. By reducing the amount of choices and having a ‘default’ option, it’s far more likely your design will succeed and satisfy the needs of the user.

Read more in this article by Joanna Ngai.

Besides having too much items in the viewport, poor navigational hierarchy and lack of clear categorisation will confuse the visitor. So when designing a home page, make it easy to find stuff, make it familiar, make sure the user feels at home.

Check out the redesigns on Dribbble.

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