Hub RTP UX/UI Case Study
Hub RTP is a historic project with over 20 years in the making. As a major economic development game-changer to the areas located around Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill, as well as the state of North Carolina, this 1.5+ billion dollar mixed-used development project will redefine the future of Research Triangle Park. With millions of dollars of investments made from Durham County along with other key stakeholders including White Point Partners, KDC, NextPoint, Alamo Manhattan, Longfellow, and MAA the success of Hub RTP’s web presence is critical in working with real estate partners to market the project, attract tenants and secure leasing while also informing the public of the project’s milestones.
Here’s how I did it.
Identifying Goals
The Problem
Understanding the needs of all the internal and external stakeholders involved and unifying them around a solution was an exciting challenge to take on.
When I was brought on to this project as Lead Product Owner and UX/UI Designer in April 2022, it had already gone through “phase one” led by a previous Project Lead who was later let go. Stakeholders were unhappy with the user experience and superfluous language on the site. User flow was unorganized and there were over 30 call to actions with abundant links to offsite webpages.
The project had many things working against it already such as being over budget, overworked and stressed teams, poor project management and timeline, and unhappy stakeholders.
The Method
My method in picking up this project half way through it’s lifecycle and bringing it to the finish line was to make sure I had a solid understanding of where the project was currently at. This meant that I assessed the sitemap, identified modules, content, needs from stakeholders and real estate partners, conducted research and discovery meetings, and outlined all the content for a complete revamp. I also did extensive user testing and debugging, worked with developers and creative directors, and consultants for marketing content to make this overhaul a success.
Original Sitemap
As you can tell, this website was not very user friendly in the way that the information architecture was arranged, content displayed, and CTA’s all over the place. There was no order, or main funnel for users to follow that accomplished informing and also leading potential tenants for leasing at Hub RTP. There was a main global navigation as well as a secondary navigation and sub navigation within that. The footer was non-existent and didn’t follow UX standards. My goal was to make things have purpose and simplify while advocating for the needs of the end-user!
Revised Sitemap
The revised sitemap and information architecture made sure to showcase the product of Hub RTP (the leasing of building types) and feature a place for telling the story of Hub RTP through “community, location, and work here”. We also needed a place to showcase the project’s momentum therefore we needed to incorporate a news and media section. By focusing on the core components of the project, I was able to achieve a simplified layout that satisfied the audience base for both B2C and B2B. I also incorporated a critical component for capturing leads and conversions - accessible and easy to find contact forms with detailed entries so that real estate partners could easily get the information they need at a glance.
Phase One
Phase Two
Results and Performance Data
Results were compared from Phase One (April 2022 - December 2022) to the relaunch of Phase Two (December 2022 - December 2023). The website saw a 64% increase in contact form submissions compared to phase one during the first 4 months of its relaunch in phase two. Bounce rate decreased, new visitors increased, more traffic to the website, dramatic increase in backlinks, and new users all contributed to the success of phase two.
Phase One
April 2022 - December 2022
Phase Two
December 2022 - December 2023