Problem Statement
Rethink how to provide a better online experience for Standard and Poors’ products and services
Role: User Experience Designer/Researcher
Team: Creative Director, 3 Strategists and 2 UX Designers
Project overview
This is an overview of some of the work that our team put together for the final discovery and design deliverable. We presented on the purpose of the site, current state, user needs (based on user interviews), the ideal future state and foundational shifts. This is an overview of some of the work that our team put together for the final discovery and design deliverable for the Standard and Poors Ratings Site. We presented on the purpose of the site, current state, user needs (based on user interviews), the ideal future state and foundational shifts.
The Goal of the Site
"The goal of SPRatings.com is to build awareness and equity for the brand through the curation of demand-driven content. We’ll foster engagement through intuitive, user-centric experiences that can be tracked and measured to increase qualified leads and inform future content distribution."
The Existing Digital Ecosystem
First we did a full site audit of the existing site and the overarching digital ecosystem to understand all the properties and links relating to the site. We found the ecosystem to be "fragmented, dispersed and undistinguishable."
User Interview
To understand how to solve for the new site we interviewed 18 users and 2 non-users of S&P Global Ratings to better understand the perceived hurdles that they experience when using SPRatings.com.
Understanding the current and ideal Experience Model
Based on the interview findings, we developed a current experience model highlighting the blockers and pain points users are experiencing on the site and mirrored that with an ideal experience model that would be the foundation of what we hope the need site would achieve.
Personas
Based on the user interviews we were able to identify the needs, pain point and common behaviors to develop user personas.
Behavior 1: 'Get it and go'
Users in this behavioral profile will come to S&P Global Ratings with a specific query in mind (using their product, finding a rating, checking a sector) and leave as soon as they find what they’re looking for. They are unaware of or not interested in seeking out related content, and they want to access their desired information as quickly and directly as possible.
Behavior 2: Context Seeker
These users visit the site with an area of focus, but they’re open to seeing the bigger picture around their information. They’ll take some time to seek out context, but they do prefer to have it accessible, given their time constraints.
Behavior 3: project based
Their usage of SPRatings.com is on a project-by-project basis. These users will have a specific spread of information to gather for their current workload, but they’ll keep an eye on everything since their next project could be from a range of disciplines.
Behavior 4: Regulator
These users regularly visit the site to ensure that all online activities of S&P Global Ratings meet their regulatory bodies’ requirements for disclosures, information availability, etc.
User Journeys
Based on the ideal experience model and the personas we were able to design specific flows that will address each other needs.
Conclusion
Based on a deep understanding of the user, the existing SPRatings.com ecosystem, creating experience models and developing personas we were able to effectively develop user flows, wireframes and designs that would most effectively solve the above stated goal. This work is confidential and should not be shared.