Charles Pratt Notary Signing Services
Project Overview
The problem
My client, Charles, is a notary working as an independent contractor. He bought a domain, but needed help bringing his online presence to life so that any prospective clients in need of his services can find him. As his work is an intimate process, he asked that the design be approachable yet professional, technological without being overly masculine, while maintaining a "hands-on" feel.
The goal
Design a static website for both desktop and mobile 1) to establish Charles's web presence and 2) to give him a professional place to which he can direct his prospective clients for his services.
My Role
Lead web designer and UX researcher
Responsibilities
Competitive analysis, UI design, & copy editing
Research
I performed a competitive audit to 1) compare the client's preferences to existing competition and 2) to see how the competitions' websites measure up to each other.
Key questions I looked to answer were: What are common themes, types of content, and design patterns among websites in this field? Which design elements works well? Which don't, and how could I improve upon them?
What worked vs what didn't
Simple Navigation
A static website with a few pages is exactly what Charles needs, so I kept it simple with just four pages: Home, About, Blog, and Contact.
Template Déjà Vu
Many existing notary websites use the same exact template. I wanted to design something that will make Charles's website standout while maintaining a simple, clean look.
Color Scheme
To avoid a color scheme that relies exclusively on black and white, my design incorporates the primary color more and adds a secondary color for visual interest.
Design
Charles wanted a blue and gray color scheme, so I created a color palette with a bluish gray as the primary color. I also made the secondary color a coral-y orange so that the accents would pop more and add a bit of warmth.
Color Palette
I always make sure to follow WCAG standards when creating my color palette. I create a card with the color swatch, it's name, and it's hex code. For my blue card, I placed a white circle in the top right to signify that this color can be used with white text but not black.
Accessibility
Clean Design
Although my color palette includes blue and orange, I went for a design that relies more heavily on white to create the clean, professional look Charles asked for.
Content Design
To give the copy a "hands-on" feel, I edited it to be in 1st person with a personal tone. I opted for pronouns like "I," "we,"and "your" rather than referring to Charles or his clients in 3rd person. We also don't shy away from exclamation marks here!
Takeaways
Impact
This website gives Charles a platform to connect with existing clients and to be found by new ones. He can also share industry tips for others in his field via his blogging platform.
What I learned
It’s important to manage client expectations by setting a clear work schedule up front, but it's also equally as important to be flexible when things don't go quite as planned. Flexibility, within reason, helps establish mutual trust and can lead to a better end product.
Next steps
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I will continue to monitor the website's analytics, both in the CMS platform and on Google Business Profile, and the SEO settings to make sure it is being found and showing up properly in searches.
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Additionally, I will continue to work with Charles as needed to make sure the hand off is going smoothly (i.e. he can make new blog posts with ease).
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