SiliconExpert | Website Transformation

Project Summary

SiliconExpert, a subsidiary of Arrow Electronics, embarked on a transformative journey with a comprehensive website redesign, rebranding, and re-platforming initiative. Faced with an outdated website built on an outdated CMS, the project aimed to address navigational challenges externally and internally, inconsistent visual elements, and accessibility issues. The primary goals were to enhance the user experience, align visual elements with the brand, optimize conversion, and ensure accessibility across various devices. This project’s objectives were to update SiliconExpert’s public facing site, provide a seamless and informative online presence for users in the electronic design and manufacturing industry.

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What we've done

1. Strategic Discovery - Rebranding exercise & workshop

2. Responsive website redesign & optimization

3. Website Development

4. Content Migration

5. Security & IT Compliance

6. Testing, QA, and Launch

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My Roles and Responsibilities:

As a project leader, I was responsible for an end-to-end process of rebranding, redesigning, and re-platforming the SiliconExpert’s website. My responsibilities were but not limited to:

• Led an international, cross-functional team: marketers, UX designers, and developers.
• Facilitated stakeholder meetings for project understanding.
• Collaborated with cross-functional teams and external UX designers/developers.
• Co-managed timelines, ensuring milestones were met.
• Played a crucial role in wireframes, prototypes, and design alignment with developers.

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Outcome:

The SiliconExpert website overhaul delivered impressive results post-launch, meeting defined requirements and achieving rapid success metrics. Within four months, the site experienced a notable 16% monthly growth and a twofold increase in pageviews. The implementation of standardized templates empowered the marketing team to swiftly post new content, leading to heightened engagement. The revamped website emerged as a top lead generation mechanism, reflecting its impactful contribution to SiliconExpert's growth and marketing effectiveness.

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UX Approach and High-level plans

— Take website look and feel to the next level

— Fix UX issues in mobile and desktop screen

— Match their bold vision to the look and experience of the product

— Provide a visual framework & templates that will help the product and marketing iterate faster

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Project Process:

In response to time constraints, I collaborated with the vendor to devise a concise 5-month plan. This plan outlined clear milestones, deliverables, and identified potential risks, dependencies, and assumptions across teams. Utilizing this strategic roadmap, I successfully guided the project from the discovery phase to a timely launch.

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Discovery:

Collaborating with the Design team, I conducted interviews across various departments and seniority levels to eliminate biases. My primary goals were to comprehend the problem, and define and prioritize business requirements. We collected insights and defined three personas: Economic Buyers, Technical Buyers, and Partners. Using these personas, I collaborated with the design team to create tailored messaging and value journey mapping for each persona.

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Ideation and Design:

The current challenge involves devising a scalable website solution that caters to both external and internal requirements. I led numerous collaborative sessions between the Marketing and Design teams to co-create solution ideas, emphasizing a solution-oriented approach. This encompassed developing concepts and refining information architecture for the website.

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Wireframe & Mockup:

Following team discussions on the approach and user journey, I collaborated with the design team to sketch wireframes for each main content page type. Faced with time and budget constraints, we streamlined options in collaboration with the product, engineering, and marketing teams. Weekly meetings with the design team ensured continuous progress on wireframes and mockups. Additionally, workshops were conducted with the marketing, engineering, and product teams to ensure alignment on the evolving design.

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Development & Security Compliance Phase:

As we transitioned into the development stage, I took the lead in orchestrating meetings with IT and security teams, establishing a secure staging environment for developers and engineers. Given SiliconExpert's affiliation with Arrow Electronics, adherence to complex international IT security and compliance protocols was paramount. I facilitated meetings between IT, engineers, and product teams to ensure alignment with these stringent requirements. Simultaneously, I streamlined the content library migration, overseeing a sub-project dedicated to collecting and organizing content and resources. This proactive approach ensured a smooth and prepared transition for the forthcoming website development.

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Testing and Quality Assurance:

I conducted an internal testing and QA workshop, including a spirited Halloween-themed Debug Contest. Through this, we pinpointed and addressed over 80 bugs in collaboration with engineers and developers during the user testing process. This collaborative effort ensured timely bug resolution before the scheduled launch date.

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Key Takeaways:

The project underscored the significance of collaboration in the design process. It emphasized the value of embracing diverse perspectives and adeptly managing expectations within resource constraints. Designing a successful product emerged as an artful balance between the needs of users and the objectives of the business.

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