Alan Qiu

Seattle AV Source - Site Redesign

SeattleAVSource is an offshoot of a Seattle based audio visual services company called AVPro. SeattleAVSource's owner Doug Kennelly came to me and Mark Stamnes for a redesign of their current site. SeattleAVSource provides local businesses with audio visual solutions such as sounds, lighting and video / data projection for conferences, conventions, schools, auctions, places of worship and anyone else needing these services in the greater Seattle area. SeattleAVSource’ lines of business include sales, rentals, installations and services.

The redesign will provide a solid online experience allowing customers the ability to see examples / galleries of Doug’s previous work, and find information about sales, rentals, installation and services, contact his company and make purchases. The goal is a solid user experience where the customers will be motivated to place orders and / or make contact with the company. 

User Profile

To start off our research, we interviewed both the client and the users of SeattleAVSource.
We came up with two categories after interviews and analysis.

Primary user

The primary user will be a person or a business looking for audio visual equipment rental, deliveries, sales, installations, service and set up / tear down. They will tend to be decision makers in regard to the task of acquiring equipment for events and / or their businesses. They will be looking for information on what kind of equipment is available, how to book equipment what the service area is and / or what kind of timelines are available. They will be looking for professional tones in the website and to get sense of the strength of the business. They will want to see galleries of previous work and know how to contact the company quickly. They may want to have an idea of pricing. 

Secondary User

Secondary users may be customers interested in sales, installation or service of existing or new equipment. They will also want to see galleries. They will generally be gathering information and may want to contact SeattleAVSource for purchase of services and for more information. The goal is for them to want to make contact because they believe SeattleAVSource will provide the best results for their money.

Information Architecture

This process of developing the Information Architecture for SeattleAVSource was a back and forth process that involved written and verbal communication with our client. After meeting with Doug and examining both websites, we went to work.

Top down

The idea behind top-down perspective is to consider what information to provide at the top level. From the top-down, we specified the main categories and broke each category down into smaller pieces. We decided on four categories based in ideas that the users need be able to understand who and what SeattleAVSource is: About US, what their main lines of business are: Sales and Rentals, examples of their work: Gallery, and how to make contact: Contact.

Bottom Up

From the bottom-up perspective, users need to be able to find out about reading testimonials from previous customers, SeattleAVSources history, find out who they are, read their mission / overview statement, renting / purchase equipment (projectors / screens, video equipment, lighting, audio gear, staging / drapery), see images of previous events / shows, installations, maintenance / repairs, and be able to schedule installation, maintenance / repairs. 

Sketches

Process

Protosite