Brian O'Shea UX — BuildersCloud Marketing

BuildersCloud: Marketing Site and Branding

Opportunity: Brought on as a co-founder to lead product for a SAAS construction collaboration tool at BuildersCloud I quickly realized that our website, as a front door - was doing a poor job of relating who we were, what we offered and why anyone should care.

The existing website was a turn off to investors as well, and as we were raising a seed round it was critical that we had a responsive marketing site that showed the dyanmic product and team no matter what device the viewer was using. Furthermore we needed to update site graphics - from a cartoonish theme to something more neutral and professional. In addition - a full array of copy and content would be needed across the entire site - to back up our team, to better explain our offering, and to start to test messaging for conversion potential.

Role: Research, Wireframing, Content Strategy, Bootstrap HTML and CSS, Branding and logo design
Client: BuildersCloud
Year: 2013

Results

Based upon feedback and interviews with early customers, as well as interviews with potential customers - we knew that the main BuildersCloud functionality needed easier access - especially on touch-screen devices.

The new BuildersCloud marketing site featured responsive design based off a Bootstrap template, more professional graphics, and content designed to appeal to both investors as well as potential customers.

Process:

When I was brought in - the BuildersCloud site had already been through an iteration or two - but development resources were focused on the main tools and backend, so the marketing site was neglected. As we entered TechStars, as part of the 2013 Microsoft Azure Accelerator cohort - it was made painfully obvious we needed a refresh ahead of any fundraising round. I got to work:

The original site didn't offer much for potential users or investors alike

I used Paper to start mapping out the new site.

Digital iterations of the new site began to take shape.

A sitemap guided our way.

I developed graphic elements like these, used on the homepage, to help illustrate some of the main features and interfaces.

Retrospective and Next Steps:

The new site paid off - we gained a new professional looking front-door, and ultimately closed a sold seed-round of fundraising, as well as new customer activity. And visitors across the board had a much clearer idea of who we were, and what we offered.