The Project
The goal of this project was to redesign the Delphix marketing site with an emphasis on showcasing the new Delphix Dynamic Data Platform release. The marketing site’s main purpose served as a storytelling piece which laid out the data management struggles IT companies typically experience, contrasted by how Delphix solves for those problems.
Discovery: Spectrum Exercises
The Delphix marketing site redesign involved an extensive research and discovery phase. We ran a variety of exercises that helped us understand how Delphix wanted to be positioned in the competitive landscape. We used spectrum exercises to understand how to position the brand in terms of illustration, typography, photography, voice and tone.
Discovery: Content Strategy Proposal
Until the point of the redesign, Delphix content spoke the language of DevOps, IT operations managers, data-base analysts (DBAs), and engineers. Content was overly technical and difficult to understand to key stakeholders who had the final say into purchasing the product . After performing a content evaluation, we discovered that the original version of the site was speaking to the wrong audience. Keeping this in mind, we proposed to move forward with verbiage and content that spoke the language of key decision makers.
Research: Customer Interviews
One of the first steps we took in an effort to elevate the Delphix brand and help refine their marketing content, was through a round of customer interviews with current Delphix customers. The interviews gave insight into their thoughts about the platform, what types of problems they were solving with Delphix, and how it helped them achieve success in their work.
Research: Findings Synthesis
After implementing different types of discovery and research methods, we proceeded to synthesize our findings. We used a synthesis document where we gathered information for persona development, key themes, quotes, and testimonials, that would later inform the rebrand and content strategy. On a different section of our synthesis document, we incorporated a recommendations section. On it we went over how to best approach content strategy and steps we could take to tackle the rebrand.
IA & Content Strategy
Following the internal synthesis, we conducted an onsite with our main stakeholders to discuss information architecture and web optimization. The Delphix team was looking to transform their site from a robust source of technical information, to a place where audiences with purchasing power could quickly understand the value that Delphix could bring to their organization without complicated jargon. With this in mind, we conducted a card sorting exercise to de-prioritize items that were not adding to the performance of the site and elevate the pages that best communicated the value of Delphix.
Responsive Mega-Navigation
Before the redesign, most of the site’s traffic came from desktop devices, after conducting research we found that the navigation experience for mobile breakpoints was disjointed resulting in low traffic on mobile and tablet. We recommended introducing a mega-navigation designed mobile-first, enabling users to scan through topics, search and find relevant content no matter what device they used.
Content Wireframes
One of the primary goals of the redesign was to bring awareness to the data management problems CEOs might not be aware are happening inside their organizations and provide an overview of how the Delphix solutions address those needs. In order to speak to a broader and less-technical audience, we decided to approach each page as a storytelling piece. With an updated tone and an enterprise take on content strategy, the new pages highlighted value first and foremost, letting the platform shine through testimonials, facts, and descriptive copy.
High-Fidelity UI Design
Visual elements of the marketing site, such as typography, color, photography and graphic elements, were intended to represent the concept of light-speed. In order to speak to the brand pillars and the principles of data management, we introduced visual metaphors that leveraged geometry to represent the speed of data. Together, brand and visual elements spoke to the three attributes of the Dynamic Platform: Fast, Secure, and Everywhere.
Designing with Data
In addition to giving us access to some of their customers for interviewing, the Delphix team also provided us with web analytics reports from Google Analytics to give us insights on their web performance. This resource helped us understand traffic breakdown, the type of content that was visited the most, the pages that contained the highest conversion rates, location of access and the devices that were used to view the site. This was a crucial piece of information that allowed us to step away from assumptions and redesign the site based on solid research and facts.
Simple is Better
In writing, the Dynamic Platform sounded like magic to CEOs and key stakeholders that weren’t as familiar with the technicalities of data virtualization. However, when it came to describing what it did, most people had no idea where to begin. The Delphix team was looking to have something on their website that could help them describe the platform’s capabilities in a succinct way. The Dynamic Data Platform diagram was an abstraction that leveraged an isometric grid, geometry, and color to express the speed in which data enters the platform, gets virtualized, secured and managed and finally packaged into individual data instances.
Design System: Components
The Delphix design system was intended to be lightweight and help bring focus and clarity to the website. The components were designed to be responsive and to fall in line with the bootstrap grid. The library contained comprehensive guidelines for typography, color, photography treatment, illustration, iconography, and system feedback.
Design System: Illustration
In addition to the base styles for the marketing site, our visual strategy also included a system of isometric illustrations to support the new page narratives. The illustration system was primarily built for the problem-solution section of the homepage. Our goal was to use the primary blue color to emphasize the speed and lightweight nature of data when it is virtualized through Delphix, compared to the clutter and chaos of unmanaged data represented by the gray color.
The Launch
By the end of our engagement, Delphix had successfully implemented and launched 16 redesigned pages. After the launch, we continued to make UX optimizations throughout the site and contributed to the creation of homepages.