Why a Company That Sells Face-To-Face Needs UI/UX Design.
Last year, Code Works designed a new website for enFocus, a talent and innovation firm, and streamlined business practices in the process.
enFocus is a South Bend-based nonprofit organization that connects recent graduates with client organizations to engage in research, consulting, and analytics projects. Since 2012, they have brought on over 50 graduates and worked on over 100 projects with different organizations.
Last year, we designed and built a new website and multiple print materials for enFocus with an emphasis on recruiting talent and engaging new clients. In the process, we found a larger storytelling problem that we were able to solve with design.
If you asked an enFocus employee, ‘What does enFocus do?’ everyone had a different answer.
Every year, enFocus opens applications for the next set of recent graduates, or Fellows, to participate in the year-long Fellowship program. enFocus also creates relationships with client organizations in order to have a pool of projects that the Fellows will work on over the course of their year with enFocus.
In order to capture these Fellows and sponsors, enFocus mostly utilizes face-to-face interactions and networking events. Their website was hardly used as a marketing tool – and because of that, it quickly became an inaccurate depiction of the story enFocus employees were trying to convey in conversations.
A good brand message explains why the company matters and what differentiates it from competitors. If there aren’t marketing materials (website, print materials, etc.) to create and maintain the core message of a brand, then that message becomes fractured and confusing.
Wire-framing clear user experiences makes business processes more streamlined.
The work of creating a digital strategy is similar to the work of creating a company’s business model:
- Determine the target audiences to address
- Craft language that simply states the company’s purpose (i.e. the brand message!)
On the site, we targeted two user groups — Applicants looking to join enFocus as Fellows and Clients interested in working with enFocus on a project. These two groups determined the most important user stories to consider when designing the website.
User A
User A is a Senior at the University of Notre Dame looking for opportunities after graduation. He hears about enFocus at a Career Fair and is directed to the website for more information. Immediately upon arriving at the home page, there is a button to Join Our Team. The Apply tab is also easily visible in the nav bar. User A quickly finds the Apply for a Fellowship tab, reads through the presented information, and clicks Apply.
User B
User B is a director of a large local medical foundation who has heard about enFocus from a member of their board. She goes to the home page of the site to find out what types of services enFocus provides and quickly finds the Services tab. She reads through the types of consulting and research, browses through case studies, and hits the Contact button to start a conversation about what enFocus can do for her organization.
Focusing on these two case studies enabled us to create efficient and elegant designs that route both target audiences to the desired destination with clarity and simplicity.
Good marketing tools make conversations move quickly.
When Code Works was first engaged by enFocus, we were tasked with creating a clear brand message that informed potential clients what enFocus is actually all about:
entrepreneurial Focus. Community Impact. enFocus attracts and develops talent to spark civic innovation.
When a company’s primary sales method is to lock in larger contracts with many face-to-face interactions, it is an advantage to have print materials to give to clients that shows examples of work, case studies, and core values. We created an informational packet and handbill that could effectively bridge the gap in face-to-face conversations.
Having print materials gives companies the ability to tell other people what they do quickly and succinctly. It also allows you to skip past the explanation conversation part and get to the important bits.
Facilitating growth through clear processes and consistent brand message.
Working on design and messaging for any company is a balancing act of adjusting to the direction of the company, adapting the language and processes, adjusting again, adapting again, and so on. Through UI/UX focused design, Code Works was able to establish language, and process pathways that help enFocus streamline real-life conversation to drive tangible outcomes. Adhering to this brand standard across digital platforms, print materials, and face-to-face interactions establishes a clear and consistent brand message.
Thanks for reading! We’re a Rust Belt design & development shop based in South Bend, Indiana. To see more of our work: sbcodeworks.com
