Summary and Key Findings

Building Trust, Driving Leads

The Information Lab is a B2B data visualization company that specializes in Tableau & Alteryx. While their mission is to help users from a wide range of industries like finance, healthcare, real estate, etc. make sense of data, their current website lacks trust. To enhance The Information Lab’s credibility and drive lead generation, our team conducted in-depth user research and discovered three key findings. Based on our research insights, we developed a comprehensive design strategy to improve website usability, increase trust, and ultimately boost lead generation.

Client Overview

The Information Lab's main headquarters is located in the UK. They recently expanded their offices to New York and are in the beginning stages of building their US domain website. The Information Lab's New York office just recently launched their current website after working with a design consultancy and wanted to gain further feedback on their existing website. Some challeneges that The Information Lab was facing with their new US website were:
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• Non-profits/govt offices don't want to work with The Information Lab because of the '.co.uk' domain
• Current CTA's send users to the UK link rather than the US one
• Since the website is personalized to the UK and the sitemap is copied over from the UK website, "does the current sitemap make sense for the US?"

For this project, my team and I conducted user research to determine usability levels and designed a more credible and lead-generating website for The Information Lab.

Project Kickoff

Does the website's design and content align with established usability principles to create a positive user experience?

For our initial research, my team and I went through The Information Lab's website and discovered pain points along with heuristic violations. We then proceeded to rate each problem's severity from 1-4.

“Is this even worth the time spent fixing it.”

- CTO, The Information Lab

Diving into the user's voices

We interviewed a total of 12 users (3 interviews per member of our team) to discover real user pain points. The user interview findings provided compelling evidence to support the design recommendations, addressing the CTO's initial concerns.

9
Decision Makers

2
Analysts

1
Product Designer

3/6 users shared this statement

“I haven’t seen anything that shows that it’s a real company.”

- Senior Director of Product Management in Semiconductor Industry
Decision Maker

Research

Problem #1

7/12 Users Don’t Trust the Website to Turn into Leads

Key findings from the homepage is that it lacked evidence as to why users should work with The Information Lab. The services were not discoverable and vague headlines caused users to feel more unsure than confident about working with The Information Lab. Throughout the entire homepage there were three conversion elements that were backed by zero direction, information or incentive for users. As for the navigation, many expressed it seemed unprofessional. The repetition of certain sections made users feel less convinced of The Information Lab's work.

Problem #2

7/12 Users Noticed a Lack of Data and KPIs

Along with missing testimonials in the homepage, the services page missed data and statistics on the impact The Information Lab had on their previous clients. How are users supposed to feel the drive to work with The Information Lab with no solid proof on the impact the The Infomation Lab has?

Problem #3

8/12 Users Felt the Language Was Dense and Vague

Almost every page had at least three paragraphs under each section. The amount of text left users feeling disoriented. While understanding The Information Lab's SEO technique, our research showed that the website's word vomit actually did the opposite and drove users away confused.

Each iteration consisted of design updates that reflected the feedback my team gained from each round of interview.

Key Design Choices

How to fill The Information Lab's serious credibility gap

The user testing revealed several key areas for improvement. Users found the website's headlines vague and the secondary text confusing. Many pages lacked clear direction, and the absence of strong calls-to-action hindered user engagement. Additionally, the lack of quantitative data and evidence to support The Information Lab's value proposition was a significant concern. Users desired more tangible proof of the company's impact.

Recommendation #1

Build Trust By Sharing Specific Proof of Expertise Early - Welcome your users with proof

Recommendation #2

Show Quantifiable Data - Put your data first

Recommendation #3

Use Simplified Language - Pretend your users knows nothing about data

Wrap Up

So, are the problems my team discovered even worth spending time to fix them?

10/12 Users we interviewed expressed their preference for the redesign

Can The Information Lab be the McKinsey of the Data Consulting Industry?

Conclusion & Feedback

We wrapped up our project with a satisfying in-person presentation to the team at The Information Lab. Sharing our research insights and design recommendations in person was a fantastic opportunity to connect with the team and gain valuable feedback. The insightful questions we received from the board pushed us to think critically about the next steps for our design recommendations and how they could be implemented effectively. Overall, it was a truly rewarding experience that solidified our commitment to creating impactful user experiences.

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