Digital Contractors
DigitalContractors.io is a marketing agency focused on helping landscaping companies expand their businesses through digital marketing strategies. The agency offers services like SEO, PPC, social media management, and local business optimization, specifically tailored to the landscaping industry. The goal is to provide landscaping companies with the tools and support they need to grow their customer base, improve online visibility, and enhance lead generation efforts.
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Project Type
Marketing Agency
Web, product
Research Methods
Competitor Analysis, User Interviews, User Personas, Affinity Mapping, Site Architecture, Wireframes, Usability Testing
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Discipline
UX Design, Web, product, UI Design, Visual Design
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Time Frame
Feb - March, 2025
Overview /
The Problem
The current Digital Contractors website has an outdated design and confusing navigation, leading to high bounce rates and low conversions. Users struggle to find relevant information, and the site fails to effectively showcase the agency’s services. The redesign aims to improve usability, build trust, and increase lead generation by creating a more intuitive and engaging user experience.
The Goal
By Redesigning the Digital Contractors website with a focus on a clean, modern aesthetic, intuitive navigation, and clear calls to action. Streamline the user journey to make it easy for visitors to find relevant information and engage with services. Implement a responsive design to ensure a seamless experience across all devices. Highlight case studies, testimonials, and service offerings to build trust and credibility. Optimize the site for faster load times and improved SEO to increase visibility and drive more qualified leads
Discover /
To identify potential issues, research was needed on existing websites that address these user challenges. First, market research and competitive analysis were carried out to evaluate the competition and determine if there was an opportunity for a better solution. Then, user interviews were conducted to gain insight into the needs and pain points of business owners in need of marketing assistance.
Competitive analysis
To better understand the competitive landscape, I conducted research on both direct and indirect competitors offering similar features, such as gamification, saving tips and security guidelines.
While some platforms were restricted by location firewalls, I identified four key competitors to analyse in depth. This gave me valuable insights into their solutions and features. By studying their approaches, I gained a clearer understanding of which features would be essential for my app and how to position it with a competitive edge in the market.
User Interviews
User interviews were conducted with nine participants, each interview lasting between 15 to 30 minutes.
To prepare for these interviews, I developed an interview guide featuring open-ended questions to allow for the most exploration of user pain points. Following the interviews, I synthesized the findings using post-it notes in order to identify and analyze common themes.
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Conversion Elements
The website lacks effective lead-generation features
Website Design
Users prefer a modern, clutter-free design with intuitive navigation that emphasizes core services and user experience.
SEO & Content
There's a strong focus on ranking for industry-specific terms and supporting this with expert-driven, optimized content.
Simplifying the Inquiry Process
Streamlining how potential clients reach out, using tools like chatbots or automated scheduling causes less friction and improves response time.
Lack of Trust Signals
The original site lacked credibility indicators like testimonials, case studies, or recognizable client logos, making users hesitant to inquire.
Unclear Value Proposition
Many users couldn’t immediately tell what services were offered or how they were tailored to landscaping businesses.
Define /
The Challenge
The main challenge of this project was transforming a visually modern but underperforming website into a high-converting, industry-specific platform that effectively communicates the agency’s value to landscaping and contracting businesses. This involved balancing clean, minimalist design with strong lead-generation features, crafting clear messaging for a niche audience, and integrating SEO and content strategies—all while differentiating the agency in a crowded digital marketing space.
User Personas
The target audience is small to medium-sized landscaping and contracting businesses that need to improve their online presence, lead generation, and digital marketing efforts. These businesses are typically looking for a specialized agency that understands their industry-specific challenges and can deliver results through tailored web design, SEO, social media, and advertising solutions.
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Site Map
A site map was developed to create a clear and organised structure for the platform, based on user interviews that revealed the need for flexible navigation. Users wanted the ability to complete tasks through various sections of the platform, and this insight was central to the site map's design.
The site map was refined throughout the project to ensure intuitive navigation and a logical flow of information. It helped define the hierarchy and relationships between pages, guiding users efficiently and minimising confusion as they moved through the platform.
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Task Flows
Task flows provided a high-level view of each user’s process on the platform, mapping out the key steps to ensure efficient interactions. This helped identify potential obstacles and allowed me to streamline the overall user journey.
These tools were essential in refining the platform for a smooth, user-friendly experience.
Task Flow
Wireframes
Deliver /
Low-fidelity
Based on research and key insights, I began the design process with low-fidelity wireframes, prioritising ideas around critical user pain points identified in user interviews. Low-fidelity wireframes allowed for quick iterations on flows for features, providing an initial sense of the platform’s layout.
This wireframe demonstrates how a user would find the business services, portfolio as well as blog posts, and potentially book a consultation call.
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Mid-fidelity
Based on peer and mentor feedback, significant changes were made between the low- and mid-fidelity wireframes. Key updates included adding a sign up section, an ingredient glossary, a wishlist feature, and preview of products on the homepage.
Additionally, I consolidated the search feature into a single page which aimed to improve the user experience by reducing the multi-step search process to a single page, therefore improving what is seen on competitor platforms. The page hierarchy was also refined after further feedback.
Usability Test
I conducted usability tests on five users within the target audience which provided valuable insights on how the users complete their tasks and interact with the platform. All users successfully completed the tasks with minimal errors. Feedback indicated that the platform's clean and straightforward design made tasks easy to complete.
Success metrics included a) Time taken to complete the task, and b) Error rate when completing the task. After conducting usability studies, all five users were able to complete the tasks in an average of 5 minutes or less. The errors that occurred during testing were simple details such as
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Enhance Clarity of Purpose – Add a stronger positioning statement in the hero section.
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Improve Readability of Services – Use summaries
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Optimize Mobile Experience – Adjust text sizes and simplify the navigation menu.
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Strengthen CTA Messaging – Make calls to action more specific.
Priority Revisions
After user testing was done, it was apparent that some buttons needed to be added to make the design 100% user friendly.
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Final Pages
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Reflection
What I learned
As a UX designer, I learned the importance of deeply understanding both the business goals and the end users—landscaping and contracting professionals—in order to design a website that not only looks good but drives meaningful results. This project taught me how to balance clean, modern aesthetics with functionality, prioritize clear calls-to-action for lead generation, and design with mobile responsiveness in mind. I also strengthened my ability to translate stakeholder interviews and competitive research into actionable UX strategies that support SEO, improve user flow, and build trust through content like case studies and testimonials.
Next Steps
1. Feature Development
2. User Testing & Iterations
The next phase involves fully developing the platform's existing features to ensure they function seamlessly. This will lay a solid foundation for subsequent testing and refinements.
Once development is complete, further user testing will be conducted to evaluate and improve usability. Iterative adjustments will be made based on feedback to achieve optimal success metrics.