… And finally I get to write about it! This was a really big effort (the third largest telecom) that took about a year to design and build. It forced me to stretch outside of my comfort zone from a project leadership perspective. At one point there were eight designers on the projects, and client management was challenging. The pace of a large company can be maddening sometimes, but somehow we all made it happen.
We took a very holistic approach to the redesign. We started with user research, stakeholder interviews, and a meaty literature review to get us into the telecom head space. After developing personas, we used scenario-based designs to tell the story of how users will interact with the site. We developed a vision for the site that would stretch out for the next five years. After the application of much will and determination we were able to get a vision pushed through the beurocratic lines and into implementation. Roles overlapped and were at times ambiguous. Dupplication in effort created uncertainty, and an organizational overhaul mid stream worked against us in delivering final designs. But we prevailed.
The success of this project is evident. The website is a mssive lead generation vehicle for Qwest, and even before they began to market the redesign, lead generation from the site increased 50% right after the launch. EffectiveUI and Qwest recently partnered at a Forrester conference in New York to talk about the experience of this effort and the considerable ROI. We made a video to showcase the work.
Check it out: Qwest Large Business