Context
This project is a collaboration with the Dutch software company Peppered, who build component-based websites using their own CMS for arts and culture organisations across the Benelux and beyond.
After Digital was brought on board to provide UX consultation and design services for one of Peppered’s clients, de Doelen — the second largest events venue in the Netherlands. De Doelen were looking to make bespoke improvements to their site, taking a user-centred approach to draw a larger variety of audiences, namely young people, to the venue.
As part of this project, we carried out a two week pre-discovery phase of user research, a two-day on site discovery, and finally an eight week design phase.
Tasks
My role
I was the lead designer on this project and was supported by a junior designer.
My tasks
- Pre-discovery research tasks including an analytics review, HotJar analysis, audience segmentation research and an informal UX audit
- Leading discovery, consisting of three workshops carried out on site with attendees from de Doelen and Peppered—namely a user personas workshop, a card sort (to devise a new Information Architecture), and content hierarchy session.
- Creation of the initial set of designs presented to de Doelen
- Providing support and feedback to the junior designer, who then went on to create the rest of the designs
Challenges
An external design team which feels anything but
We came to the projects as outsiders as de Doelen were already an established client of Peppered. Therefore, a major task for us was to ensure that we were working with Peppered as one unified team.
Solution
We spent time familiarising ourselves with the Peppered CMS, while also introducing our own discovery and design process to Peppered, sharing knowledge between our teams to ensure we aligned in our work with de Doelen.
Being on site in Rotterdam for discovery proved to be a great opportunity to build trust and cement our relationship with both Peppered and de Doelen, setting us up for a productive relationship as we headed into the design phase.
Appreciating Dutch audiences
While de Doelen as a cultural organisation is similar to those I’d worked with previously, they were our first Dutch client. Most of our clients are based in the UK and the United States.
Solution
I challenged some of the assumptions I would usually make about how the venue reaches its audiences, resulting in useful observations—for example, Dutch cultural organisations place much less emphasis on memberships and donations.
Reflection
This project represented a few firsts for me. While I’d previously led virtual discoveries, this was my first time both being on site overseas and having the support of a junior designer. In the end, discovery proved a success with both Peppered and de Doelen providing wholly positive feedback.
The first instalment in a collaboration between Peppered and After Digital, the success of the de Doelen project was a prerequisite for the continuous partnership which now exists between the two companies.