Getty Images Redesign
RE-IMAGINING A WEBSITE THROUGH FAST-PACED WORKSHOPS
MY ROLE
Vision | UX & Design Direction | Project Management | Company Sponsor
THE CHALLENGE
Getty website needed to be redesigned to better connect with its target audience.
THE TASK
In 6 weeks I created a vision that transformed Getty Images from a catalog of photographs into an modern, intuitive digital service that enabled professionals discover and obtain the best visual content.
Week 1
Information Gathering & UX Brief
During the first week I did a lot of data gathering, set our business goals, interviewed stakeholders and users. The outcome was an strategic brief that helped us stay focused.
It was very important that we didn’t aim for the perfect solution, but to make quick decisions to narrow down the options towards the proof of concept.
WEEK 2
Journeys & Concept Themes
In a four hour workshop, we jointly developed user behaviors and high-level journeys.
KEY USERS BEHAVIORS
1. Users are project centric
2. Users work with others on a project for advice and approval
3. Projects are short, medium and long
4. Users multi-task while working and think about what's next
5. Users reference past projects, previous searches and external information to compare and decide
Concept Themes
By brainstorming and prioritizing behaviors, brand values and mood-boards I created the basis to put together the key concept themes that would guide the creation of the future website design – this took us just about 60 minutes. We had the advantage to have a solid user segmentation and personas that accelerated this process.
Week 4
Design & Reviews
This week was all about sketching ideas quickly, developing features based on the key themes and mapping up the core interactions, so that the design team had what they needed to start visualizing the designs. We did a few quick reviews, annotated the feedback on the fly. The synchronization among us was remarkable.
WEEK 5
Final Designs and Features
From the prototype (our north star) and the key new features identified, I began planning for which ones we would build and launch first based on both the positive impact to our customers and how much we could learn in the process. I decided that running some tests in the home page, building boards for users’ collections and collaborations and a better user dashboard would be the first set of features we should launch before the end of the year. Simultaneously, we also planned for improvements to our search results, asset detail pages and check out user flows.
week 6
The Prototype
Before & After
These illustrate the dramatic change that transformed Getty Images web site to a modern, strongly visual experience that focuses on highlighting the power of its best-in-class content and making it easier for users to find what they want. The results not only show on the ‘looks’ but the performance. Getty Images visitors increased dramatically in twelve months, and so did the revenue.
12 Month Results
The changes we made to the user interface, visual design and tagging throughout the implementation of the initial features vastly improved our SEO. Searches in the site increased dramatically. Since we didn’t make changes to the search technology, it was clear that the design changes were effective. The UI modernization (enlarging the image, simplifying purchase paths, etc.) resulted in more than 20% more images added to the cart. And self-served online sales were up 22% YoY.