MarketingWebsites

Here is not a Website

By | June 11, 2015

In the beginning, the web was was for information transfer. In large part because those were the constraints of the technology. Although our technology has wildly advanced, our conception of the purpose of the web has not changed in the minds of many. “A website is where you tell people about your brand” many will say. While a website is no less than then, it is far more.

As I discussed in a previous post, a website should be a world into which one can enter and experience. And this was our impulse in our latest redesign.

Introducing Insight

Since 2009, we’ve been helping Insight Financial Group build their brand. The website has been a missing piece in creating a cohesive brand experience. Insight’s brand is build on making sure every experience is calming, straight forward, approachable/caring and organized. The experience online had to align with also of those characteristics and deliver the brand promise of making wisdom actionable.

homepage

alternating homepage backgrounds

There are a number of unique design features that we incorporated into his website. First, we avoided the common menu design and opted for a more directed UX. Each page in the path provides minimal options and clarity to guide the user. This directed path creation also creates a sense of interest and mystery regarding the other paths. We fully expect users, no matter their real inclination, to explore both paths. Second, the site experience begins with a motion graphic. We wanted the first encounter with the brand to be simple, and clear. Users would match rather spend two minutes getting an overview versus digging through pages of text.

detail

thank you popup

Third, since financial service industry has a reputation of being aloof, we wanted to bring as much personality as possible to the site. One way we accomplished this is by including not only the third-person self-written bios, but also bios written by the other employees about each other. These multiple perspectives on each of the employees brings warmth and personality to their brand.

team bio page

homepage intro

blog

Finally, to further foster approachability we filmed a number of short interviews. Allowing visitors to experience Phil’s passion to serve clients well.

If you’re looking for not-a-website, give us a call (630-923-5009) or send us an email (jjames@spire2.com).

John Higgins
John Higgins