Site Redesign for Cycle Oregon, a non-profit dedicated to improving communities through cycling.
Project: Cycle Oregon Website
Role: User Experience Designer
Date: May 2016
Description: Designed a responsive site for a long-running Oregon non-profit.
Length of Project: 6 Months
Cycle Oregon is a non-profit that raises money for small communities in Oregon through cycling events. Their biggest and most substantial event is a week long bike ride through Oregon. Even though the Week Ride draws hundreds of cyclists every year, but getting the right information to those who are either interested in registering or have registered was a challenge.
I worked with Cycle Oregon to address three main problems. 1. While the site contained lots of useful information, the structure and organization of the site often left interested visitors confused. 2. Despite great photography and enthusiastic rider stories, there was little story telling on the site itself. 3. Cycle Oregon raised and donated substantial amounts of money every year, yet the organization's mission remained unclear.
Getting To Know Users
My first few meetings with the Cycle Oregon team were spent learning about the variety of participants that are attracted to their programs. Luckily, the team had extensive information from past studies and surveys. Here are the main groups we identified together.
Site Organization
I tackled the first problem by doing a complete overhaul of the site organization. There was lots of good information, but it was difficult to find. The current navigation needed to be simplified down to reflect the main goals of the site. Working with the team, I managed to simplify the content into three sections.
Next, it was important to define what content would fall into these categories.
Storytelling and Inspiration
It was also important to this redesign that we improve the level of storytelling throughout the site, especially when it came to the actual cycling events. To help with this, I created large touts, rich with event imagery that would be seen on the homepage and on the event pages.
It was important for the content to be easily updated and maintained. With that in mind, I focused on using content that the organization had already collected and currently showcased on their blog.
Responsive Design
Cycle Oregon's mobile site was widely used for both registration and education about upcoming events. For ease of maintenance and clarity, we went with a responsive design.
Visual Design
Finally, I provided the team with some mock-ups of what the visual design might be based on the wireframes.
