The Learning Curves of Ultrasound
CTRL SYSTEMS, INC
information architecture | strategic branding | brand + web design
Role
Lead designer
Front end developer
Researcher
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Tools Used
Adobe Illustrator
Adobe Photoshop
Wix
Javascript
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Timeline
July 2020 - Jan 2021
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July - user & competitive research
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Aug - brainstorm
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Sept - Jan - logo and website design
​Designing a brand identity and building an optimized website for the first time developed an interest in UX research and design. I became curious about the end-to-end experience of researching, ideation, and design, and I found it very rewarding to know that my final result is a product that will be used by people, and that has to potential to make a difference in their online experience.
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Business Needs
CTRL Systems is an industrial machinery manufacturer that uses ultrasound technology to create repair equipment for industries such as aviation, power generation, and petrochemical.
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CTRL is traditionally direct sales based and needs to grow its web presence through social media, email, and search marketing. CTRL needed a strategic rebrand that included a new logo and a stellar new website experience that would educate new customers about its business.
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User Needs
Education
Lack of understanding for online website visitors over CTRL technology and offerings.
Intuitive information architecture
Difficult to find information needed or specific pages on the website due to disorganized site navigation
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Ease of readability
Information was arranged in ways that was not easy to read, like blocks of text or floating paragraphs.
Goals
My tasks:
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Create a new brand identity that communicates ultrasound connectivity technology to new customers
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Improve CTRL's online presence to make it easier for users to find information and learn about the technologies and offerings of the company.
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How?
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Redesigning the logo
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Reorganizing site infrastructure to improve site SEO
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Redesigning site layout for a more intuitive and optimized user experience
Part I: Rebranding
What's wrong with the old logo?
​CTRL managers didn't like the old logo, complaining that the look is:
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too abstract
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unable to communicate what the company does
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dated aesthetically
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To help users understand CTRL's business, they wanted a new logo that can emphasize the company's ultrasound-based technology.
Brainstorming a new look
Sketches and iterations
I designed over 15 iterations of the logo for the consideration of CTRL executives.
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In the end, the final logo was chosen with the CEO's preference for a more boxy and "badge-like" design and a flat color scheme similar to the old logo.
Final Design
The designs of the final logo addresses the three business needs:
Ultrasound waves and dots convey to new customers CTRL's ultrasound and connectivity technology
Badge design allows easy implementation on hardware to maintain consistent branding
Using dark blue and yellow colors and the same font connects the old and new logos
Part II: Website Redesign
What's wrong with the old website?
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Managers complained about:
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Unorganized information all over home and product pages, not optimized for user reading experience
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Navigation did not properly show all the offerings, and some pages are all over the site, not easy to navigate to
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Unclear CTA for user to request quote
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Outdated look
Competitor Research
I studied the websites of competitors with similar business approaches and technologies, such as UE Systems. I took note of:
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site navigation
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information layout
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location and number of CTAs ​
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I found that most of our competitors split the content of their website up between 1) products, 2) solutions, and 3) company information and support content.
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The competitor sites also displayed most of their site pages in easy-to-see ways like a large sitemap, or a large rollover navigation menu.
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Keeping in mind the trends of the industry and our research, we decided to incorporate 1) a large navigation menu, as well as 2) site architecture separated by products and solutions
Site map from SDT Solutions
Navigation bar from UE Systems
User Research
I interviewed members of the company and common users of the website, such as engineers and found:
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Engineers value ease of functionality of website, easy to find information and specs
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Users did not want to invest time to have a novel experience but care about straightforward navigation
Users of CTRL's website also usually come on the website looking for things like
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Specific CTRL products such as the UL101 that the user is already familiar with
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Systems solutions such as leak detection or electrical fault detection
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Industry-specific solutions such as products or offerings for the military, railroad, or manufacturing
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Support resources such as white papers or product user manuals
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With this understanding, we decided to structure the navigation and organization of the site based on user intent
Translating needs into design
Final Site Structure
This is our final site structure, organized by Systems, Industry, and Product Solutions.
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We also created a resources library dedicated to support documentation, news, and training events that is visible at the same level as the three solutions.
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Each of the pages is accessible from the home page menu, making it easy for the user to see the entire site at once.
Final Site Design
Sticky header with clear CTA button that remains always above the fold
New navigation bar with a menu that opens on hover
Color scheme consistent with rebranded logo
"Learn More" button on the home page limits the amount of text shown on screen
Adding iconography and increasing text hierarchy makes the information more readable and easier to digest
Resource library allows for all the documentation to live in one place.
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Drop down boxes for downloads also limits the content and length of the page
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Part III: Final Reflection
Redesigning CTRL's logo and website was my first time being the head designer of such a big project from end to end, as well as the first time my designs and research have been published and manufactured in a real world setting with real world constraints.
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This project was a great opportunity for me to learn how to organize online information in a way that would be most intuitive to a group of highly technical users, and it was the first time I began to foster an interest in the combination of UX and digital marketing. By learning how to design an experience focused on ease of use rather than purely aesthetics, my biggest takeaway was that there is a fascinating intersection between the customer journey, SEO, and design.
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With this challenge to put my ideas into reality in front of a team of executives and engineers, I developed my design thinking and communication skills as I presented the rationale behind my designs, received feedback and iterated on my designs. This rebranding project was a very valuable experience that helped me grow as both a marketer and a designer.
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