Project Overview
The Villages came to PRPL asking for a fresh take on their website in order to provide both current and future villagers with a better user experience. Our goal was to inform newcomers, enhance lead generation, and service current residents with improved utilities such as home search and event calendars.
My Role
Visual Designer
Creative Direction
Strategy
The Villages stands as the largest 55+ planned community in the country and its growth knows no bounds! Collaborating with them proved to be an exhilarating challenge as we embraced the task of serving two distinct groups concurrently. How can we ensure maximum utility for existing residents while captivating the attention of prospective newcomers?
Planning for Success
The Villages website has over 70 pages of unique content, so working through high-resolution wireframes was very important. I ran several wireframe workshops with our team where we focused on addressing users' needs while ensuring we set up a scalable system for the client to use. With such a large site, we couldn't design every page outright, so we picked key pages and built components that could handle multiple forms of content.
Building the Building Blocks
During the design phase, I crafted individual components and integrated them into an organized library with comprehensive development documentation. Moreover, I developed multiple versions of each component for various breakpoints to align with our responsive design strategy. This approach culminated in creating a robust UI kit for The Villages, providing them with effortless scalability.
Helping Sell Homes
The home finder is one of the most visited pages on the Villages website. New and current residents use this tool regularly to find their new forever home or keep track of their property value! It is common for a current resident to move house multiple times or continue buying properties and rent them out. We redesigned the home finder to streamline listing browsing and help keep track of favorite homes.
Figma Prototyping
I developed an advanced Figma prototype that I continuously expanded upon while designing new pages. Utilizing Figma prototypes is crucial in my design process for several reasons. Firstly, it lets the client grasp the UX aspects and experience the design's functions. Additionally, prototyping enables me to conduct user testing and validate the content structure, thereby assisting me in refining the design and helping the client comprehend the rationale behind our chosen approach.
Furthermore, prototyping is a valuable tool for identifying usability issues and highlighting areas requiring further attention when creating static designs. Moreover, it offers the advantage of previewing micro-interactions and animations for the website, providing comprehensive guidelines for my development partners. This holistic approach streamlines the development process and ensures a seamless user experience.
The Villages App
Not Just A Fresh New Look
In addition to revamping The Village's website, PRPL was entrusted with redesigning their mobile app. Primarily utilized by current residents, the app mirrors the website while adopting a more functional approach. Our strategy involved streamlining the information presented to cater to the needs of residents rather than aiming to attract new ones. As a result, we carefully curated features such as an enhanced event calendar and a comprehensive overhaul of the location browsing and directions functionality in maps. By prioritizing usability and focusing on resident-centric aspects, we optimized the app to better serve the existing community.
