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A new direction for a teacher wellbeing startup

Product
Strategy
Welbee new homepage on a mobile phone held by a hand.

Overview

Welbee was planning to expand into new markets and verticals (public and private sector companies). They felt it was time to refresh their sales website strategy and worked with me to prototype options for a way forward.

Welbee helps schools to systemise their staff wellbeing through digital products including tailored surveys, direct anonymous feedback tools and monitoring dashboards, so that senior school leaders can check in regularly on staff happiness and make improvements; fast. Their products are currently used by 200+ schools in the UK. Welbee’s primary target audience were senior school leaders and headteachers, but they now needed to appeal to business leaders and international schools too.

Skills used

Market research
Accessibility audit
User experience audit
Customer research
Information architecture

Strategy prototyping
User interface design

Team size

I was the dedicated designer, plus Welbee team
Project length
1 week
A kickoff canvas, covering  key categories: history / background; problem to solve; Motives; Fears; Users / Customers; USPs; the build; key risks; how could success be measured; competitors

Research phase

I held a workshop with the Welbee team and filled in a project kick off canvas. This helped to quickly collect all assumptions, identify knowledge gaps, and plan and structure the research approach and ensure expectations were aligned.

I interviewed local and international headteachers and business leaders to understand their staff wellbeing needs and track down new opportunities and inspiration.

I also conducted a UX audit and ran some user testing sessions to monitor the performance of the current site’s usability and content and help to prioritise the focus of the strategy prototype.


The main issues identified were:

  • The pricing structure was confusing for testers
  • None of the testers understood Welbee’s new Voice product
  • Testers felt there was too much information on the homepage
  • Information was not displayed on the pages they expected
  • Terminology was better-suited to school employees than business people
  • Visually the site wasn’t always consistent
Woman head teacher with brown hair in a classroom smiling at the camera. She is wearing a suit jacket and brown jumper. She has her hands in her pockets.
"We regularly run surveys through our MIS (School Management Information System) and we have won Staff Wellness awards. Staff wellness is so important to us"

Headteacher

Secondary school

Accessibility improvements

I ran some tests on the accessibility of the site and created a more accessible colour palette and typography system which then passed WCAG AA standards. I also paired down the amount of colours to make the brand more subconsciously identifiable.

Before and after colour contrast scans. Before shows how the old Welbee colours faired. 6/8 fail on AA and AAA standards. After shows all 8 colours passing AA level.

Navigation improvements

I used clear terms like ‘Products’ and ‘Resources’ to cater to a broader audience, plus separated out ‘industries’ so future unique selling points could be pitched to their appropriate audiences.

Each product had its own dedicated page and I added a notification bar at the top of the page, above the navigation menu to highlight new products and updates.

The previous Welbee menu bar and the three menu bars for the new designs. The previous design shows categories: "Home, Welbee, Pricing, Learning centre, About us, Contact", plus a login button and a button saying 'Get Welbee'. The new designs have the categories: "Home, Products, Industries, Pricing, Resources, About us, Contact", plus a sign in button and a button saying 'Book a free demo'. The first new menu bar has a secondary menu for 'Products'. The categories are: "Welbee Survey, Welbee Voice, Welbee Insight Platform". The second new menu has a secondary menu for 'Industries', the categories are: "Education, Business, and Public Sector which is fainter and has a note - coming soon". The third new menu has a secondary menu for Resources. The categories are: "Articles, Press and 2020 Welbee Report".

Pricing

I suggested a pricing package model with clear visual differentiation on additional benefits available as the price increased. This would be more scalable as the business expanded into other industries.

New designs for the pricing page - a clearer comparison table and packaged pricing options next to the legacy Welbee pricing page

The result

I streamlined the site’s content, focused strongly on the products and their unique selling points; key client logos and testimonial quotes that testers responded well to. I delivered a prototype to present to the board and to use in investment pitches.

Before and after for the welbee homepage.
Two Welbee posters on a brick wall . One says "Welbee for educators. Happier staff = better exam results" and has a smiling teacher on it. The other says "Welbee for business. Happier staff = higher retention" and has a smiling business-person in it.

How can I help you explore new business directions?

A prototype can speak 1000 words. Help explain your vision to your executive team. Let's discuss how to bring your strategy to life.