MARY PARRISH

Mary Parrish

A Defense Company’s Website Redesign

2020 – 2023 / Website Redesign with branding

Though a Research Engineer in mechanical engineering, I spearheaded a transformative project to revamp our company’s digital presence. Initially focusing on creating compelling tech sheets, I recognized the untapped potential of our website and initiated a comprehensive overhaul, including branding and marketing strategy. Despite challenges like budget constraints, the positive impact of the tech sheets paved the way for a full website redesign, aligning our digital presence with our innovative spirit.

My colleagues had gathered some research they’ve collected over the years and I compiled and made sense of it all. The major areas of concern were:

Customers

Without evidence of product transition, government customers are led to believe CRG uses government funds to develop unsuccessful technology. Commercial customers are almost non-existent without products listed on the site.

Potential Partners

Most employees leave the website out of their signature blocks to discourage potential partners from going to the website. Instead they like to send relevant slide decks with updated information about technology. Many people received verbal feedback that partners didn’t think CRG was real before someone reached out.

Hiring

After surveying some recent hires the website was not a factor in their decision. They were left with little understanding of what we do and weren’t convinced it was a good place to work until they came for an interview. Are we losing potentially good candidates because they don’t make it past the website?

While a diverse range of individuals may come across CRG’s capabilities, I identified four key people and their motivations for visiting the website:

Government Customers: They aim to gain insight into CRG’s capabilities and its track record in government projects.

Commercial Customers: They are interested in CRG’s recent accomplishments and whether the company can assist in solving complex challenges.

Partners: They want to discover the technology domains CRG is engaged in and explore collaborative opportunities.

Potential Hires: They seek to understand CRG’s core activities and the types of job opportunities available.

I tried to represent the majority of site visitors through two personas. They were designed by cross referencing the qualitative data from interviews with coworkers and perceived demographics from my time in the industry. They would serve as important reference points for design decisions moving forward. For both “Alex” and “Steph”:

• They are somewhat tech-savvy, but not necessarily a tech genius.
• They are trying to navigate a potential relationship with a high technology company
• They understand the “look and feel” of state-of-the-art brands and tech
• The age range can be anywhere from 21 – 70s

I didn’t want to look too much into what our competitors were doing because, after all, CRG is all about doing defense differently, right? So, I turned CRG’s vision:

To become a premier aerospace and defense company

And I looked at the big, prime defense firms and research companies. If we didn’t want to be perceived as a small research firm, it was time we act like one of the big boys. These bigger defense and research firms are Lockheed Martin, Boeing, GE, and Battelle. We also tend to partner with these firms when we transition technology into the commercial sphere.

I knew what the website needed to do through low-fidelity sketches, so it was time to really hash out the details in a mid-fidelity mockup. I had used Adobe XD in the past, but I wanted to try my hand at Figma. I mocked up just a couple of pages to show the screens for products and enabling technologies.

Here are a few examples of different promotional materials I made over the last 2 years to get their image in tip-top shape.

Examples of Tech Sheets

From Left to Right: Elements from Redesigned Overview Slides, Sales Sheets, Hiring Flyer (front), and Hiring Poster

Despite my preparation, leadership decided against pursuing a website update, opting instead to make minor adjustments to the existing site’s background. This decision seemed to stem from personal preferences among the C-level individuals. Nonetheless, I remained undeterred and took the initiative to create a Figma mockup in my spare time. While I initially hoped to sway their decision, I now see this as an opportunity to showcase my design skills in a compelling case study for my portfolio.

1. Being modern and relevant drives collaboration
   • It’s important for a company to convey a professional image to attract both clients and potential employees. However, the old website didn’t accurately reflect the modern identity of CRG. Although the website’s design may not be cutting-edge, I’ve taken steps to enhance its functionality by incorporating my tech sheets. I’ve received positive feedback from colleagues who appreciate the initiative, with some sharing anecdotes about how our tech sheets have been instrumental in demonstrating CRG’s compatibility with technology partners’ product lifecycles.
2. Branding consistency is beyond important
   • The engineers were creating flyers for various purposes and distributing them without much thought to CRG’s image. Now, I’m responsible for creating or approving all public-facing materials to ensure they align with our branding guidelines. Over the past two years, I’ve played a significant role in shaping CRG’s identity, which has undoubtedly contributed to our recent success.
3. All about Figma
   • I opted for Figma as it allowed me to work on this project during my free time using my own resources. Since Figma is free and I didn’t have a personal Adobe XD license, it was the logical choice. Despite encountering some sluggishness and frequent crashes with Figma (not ideal!), it served as a valuable introduction to the tool. While I recognize there’s still much to learn to become proficient in UX/UI design, adding Figma to my skill set has expanded my capabilities and will undoubtedly prove beneficial in the future.