Identifying UX Issues
Conducted a thorough audit of the existing platform and documented UX issues related to navigation, design inconsistency, and information overload.
Presented these issues to the stakeholders for alignment and prioritization.
Competitor Analysis
User Persona Development
Created detailed user personas to better understand our audience, which primarily included investors, traders, and analysts in the maritime and commodity industries.
Focused on their pain points, such as:
Difficulty in finding specific data quickly
Lack of intuitive navigation
Challenges in understanding industry-specific terminologies
Community Feedback
Engaged with Marhelm’s 500+ community members to gather direct feedback on pain points, feature requests, and desired improvements.
Key insights from feedback:
Users needed faster access to key data points
Data visualization needed to be clearer
Navigation was cumbersome, requiring too many steps to reach important data
Branding Overhaul
Developed a cohesive branding strategy for Marhelm, which included:
Defining brand colors, typography, and visual mood boards
Creating a modern, professional, and trustworthy brand image that reflects the platform’s focus on data-driven insights
The goal was to visually differentiate Marhelm from competitors while aligning the design with the needs of its investor-centric audience.
Learning Industry Terminologies
Since I was new to the shipping industry, one of the key challenges was to understand specific terminologies and concepts such as:
Shipping Chartering
Fixture and Voyage
Freight Rates and Terms
Nautical Miles
Laytime, Laycan, etc.
This learning process was critical in designing a platform that communicated effectively with the target audience and ensured the UX was optimized for industry relevance.
Site Map Creation
Developed a site map to restructure the platform’s navigation, ensuring that important data was easily accessible.
Streamlined the flow to reduce user friction, particularly for new users trying to find specific shipping data.
Wireframes and Prototypes
Designed low-fidelity wireframes to validate layout and structure with stakeholders before moving to high-fidelity designs.
Focused on:
Simplifying the dashboard
Improving data visualization
Ensuring that key data points (e.g., shipping fixtures, freight rates) were prominently displayed
Feedback Integration
After presenting prototypes to the community and stakeholders, I incorporated their feedback to fine-tune the design.
Iterations were focused on improving:
Data clarity
Navigation intuitiveness
Reducing clutter by minimizing unnecessary graphic elements
Results & Impact
2x Increase in Subscribers: The redesigned platform saw a significant uptick in subscriptions, largely attributed to the improved UX and branding.
Improved Engagement: Users spent more time on the platform, and community feedback post-launch was overwhelmingly positive.
Reduced Bounce Rate: The streamlined navigation and faster load times directly reduced the platform's bounce rate.
Enhanced User Satisfaction: Users reported a better experience with improved data accessibility, intuitive navigation, and faster load times.
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