Bridging Security Solutions and People

Overview
Eight Group of Companies, a security agency, created a digital presence to increase clients and hire top talent during the pandemic. By understanding user needs both on the company and client side, we selected the right information and features needed to create an effective corporate website.

What was my role?

Research
Performed a competitive analysis of other security agencies in the Philippines and conducted user research with 5 participants

UX Design and Copywriting
Apart from designing the website, together with their CEO and a writer, I led content development for the entire website

Brand Identity Building
I conducted workshops to establish their brand identity and messaging for the project.

Collaborators
1 Developer
1 Designer (me)
1 Writer

Duration
4 weeks

DESIGN OVERVIEW

Corporate Marketing Website for A Manned Security Agency

Accessible Information

Made the company profile, services, and industries serviced easily accessible for clients. According to research, this is the information most clients look for when scouting for a security agency.

Complete List of Services

Services are divided into 4 buckets which are manned solutions, training school, risk assessment, and investigation. Each category houses specialised services and an accessible ‘contact us’ button in case of inquiry.

Categorized Industries Serviced

The set of industries serviced by the company were placed into 12 buckets for easy viewing. There were originally over 25 industries.

Career Page & Portal

The career page includes employee benefits and job openings. Once a keyword is entered, all related jobs appear with their list of responsibilities and qualifications. Users can also leave their CV and contact details for someone to contact them later.

USER RESEARCH

Understanding Customer Needs

I interviewed company stakeholders such as HR heads, the CEO, and guards to understand the most frequent inquiries of potential clients and employees. Findings were then summarized into personas which helped me identify the type of content and features that needed to be on the corporate website.

IDEATION

Brainstorming Features and Content Based on User Needs

I first identified client and employee needs and then we brainstormed for features to address those needs. Clients were concerned about the company's experience in a specific industry and service rates while employees were interested in company culture, wages, and benefits. Features and flows were designed based on these findings.

Building Credibility

To build credibility, we highlighted the company’s 25 years of experience, wide variety of services, and some of their top clients, which include several large Philippine companies.

Making it Convenient for Potential Employees to Apply

Interested applicants can easily find open positions, how to apply, and additional information about the company’s work culture.

Entire Flow

PROTOTYPING

Iterating Based on User Testing

Not all users were scrolling through the homepage which originally housed components that led to other pages within the site. Thus, some users ended up missing pages with the most important information like ‘Company Profile’, ‘Clients & Industries’, and ‘Services’. I addressed this by creating a deeper hierarchy and recirculation content.

Original Flow where users discovered information by scrolling down and clicking the buttons

Shallow hierarchy where content is spread out between 6 pages

Card sorting activities

Deeper hierarchy with more content housed in the 3 different pages

Newer flow where they click ‘learn more’ to see more information

Misleading Categories for Industries Serviced

Another issue was the disorganization of existing clients under specific industry categories. I performed card sorting activities to improve the segmentation and select appropriate top level categories.

Initial Top Level Categories and their serviced clients

Optimizing the Website with Visual Design

I offered stakeholders branding options for the corporate website, had them pick a preference from a spectrum, created three design concepts , and then developed the visual design according to their chosen design concept.

Design spectrums

Choosing Accessible Color Ratios

I made use of Web Content Accessibility Guidelines to ensure that the dark color palette is still readable and does not cause any eyestrain

Scannable Text Hierarchy

My clients was under a tight budget so I utilized the free font library of google to create sturdy and strong type pairings. Using two fonts with varying line weights to improve text hierarchy and create scannable content.

Engaging Photography and Imagery

Due to shooting difficulties caused by the pandemic, we relied mostly on royalty free images and images shot by the client internally. I gave suggestions and pegs for the general look and feel for the images to be shot. I also edited the photos after to fit the moody tone.

IMPACT

Successful Website Launch Garnered Inquiries

  1. 180% more employee inquiries weekly
    Security services is not the most glamorous job so finding top talent is difficult especially during the pandemic. However, the new website was able to give the company more visibility and has managed to reap more inquiries from job seekers.

  2. 14% Increase in sales leads in the 1st Quarter of 2022
    The company has relied mostly on word of mouth or company referrals but because of the website, there have been more inquiries coming in through calls and emails.

  3. Happy sales team because the website helps streamline information to clients
    The sales team has expressed enthusiasm at having a website that they can use as a means to relay complete information to possible clients.

REFLECTIONS

Moving Forward…

  1. Further optimization using data collected
    The company has only recently started collecting data on the website. In the future, I would like to enhance the website's information, user flow, and interactions based on that. I’m curious to understand which pieces of information on the website gain traction and which points don’t.

  2. Further Flesh Out Their Brand Identity
    When I was approached to work on the company's corporate website, there was no established brand identity or even a clear mission and vision. I took the initiative to organize a workshop with the CEO to address this gap. In hindsight, I realized that having a well-defined brand from the outset would have expedited the process. In the future, I believe I could have negotiated with the CEO to extend the deadline, allowing for a more thorough development of the brand identity.