Hook’d Website redesign:
43% Increase in web visitors
UX / UI Web Design Director
HOOK’D is a fashion magazine created by UT students, offering an inclusive platform for creative expression and collaboration. While its primary focus is publishing annual print issues, HOOK’D also maintains an extensive collection of online articles. These cover a diverse range of fashion-forward topics, including runway shows, poetry, and more.
ROLE
UX UI Web Design Director
TIMEFRAME
3 months
Tools
Figma, Miro, Squarespace
PROBLEM SPACE
Users often left immediately after finding the page they were looking for, often ending up on dead-end pages with no call to action.
IMPACT
+43% increase in site visitors
Boosted user engagement
Refreshed website to align with brand identity
CONTEXT
HOOKD wanted a small web redesign for their home pages and runway pages that felt new and exciting. We saw that their bounce rate was extremely high due to dead-end pages. There were also pages with out-of-date photos.
SOLUTION
I redesigned the home page to highlight their articles, labelling it as the “featured” section, and also added new photos that echoed HOOKD’s sleek aesthetic.
STEP 1
The challenge
HOOK’D had a few major needs for their website: they wanted to redesign the home page and create a web layout for writer bios. In our first meeting, we discussed the scope of our project, identifying how each of us could accomplish these goals.
I was focused on the designing aspect, creating sketches and wireframes in Figma while other members of the team updated article pages and the website itself.
STEP 2
WireframEs
-Created 5 options for home page design, after group feedback option 4 was the favorite
-Of the three options for the writer bio page, the second was the most popular among my team
-Began brainstorming options for runway redesign but was unable to implement them within time period. We are saving the designs for future use.
STEP 3
Implementation
STEP 4
Analyze impact
Adding keywords, meta tags, descriptions, and alt text all let to an increase in SEO rankings as well as accessibility. To ensure these design principles stand the test of time, a template has been added for non-designers to create web pages according to the HAAM design language system.
43% Increase in site visitors
Increase in Accessibility
Positive feedback from members
This project reinforced the importance of lean UX methodologies, and in the future, I’ll incorporate more qualitative and quantitative feedback, even if the timing is tight.