Kermit Chair Company
The Kermit Chair was designed in 1984 by a BMW motorcyclist named Kermit.
This was a freelance project I worked on with a company called Sitemason (now One Eleven Digital). The goal was to redesign Kermit Chair's website including a blog and shopping cart checkout. I worked with the developers to ensure the design would work well with Sitemason's platform. I also updated their logo to match the new design. I delivered the final product in May of 2016.
Target User
Motorcycle riders, overland adventurers, and casual campers
My Role
UX/UI Designer
Problem
How do I tell the story of the Kermit chair and display their products in a clear way.
My Process
1. Discover
2. Architect
1. Discover
Project Overview
Since this project was coordinated through Sitemason, I wasn't able to talk to the client directly, but they relayed to me the clients' wants/needs for the project on the initial phone call. I made notes to reference when designing.
Content Review
After receiving direction from Sitemason, I went back and looked at the last two revisions of the site and compared them to the notes I had taken to make sure the design direction was inline with what they had asked for. I reached out to Sitemason to request any new content that had been created for the site.
2. Architect
Wireframe
After gathering the information from discovery, I began making rough hand-drawn wire frames of the home screen as a starting point for the design.
Prototype
Using the wire frame as a guide, I then designed a mid-fidelity prototype of the home screen. Once complete, I got on another call with Sitemason to go over it and make sure the layout addressed all of the clients' needs as discussed during discovery. We also discussed the layout with regard to how it would be implemented on their platform. Sitemason then ran the prototype past the client, who signed off. So now it was time to move to design.
Style Guide/Handoff
Once all the subpages were designed and approved, I then created a style guide as a reference, so Sitemason would easily be able to develop the site without any more design input. I packaged all the files including the style guide and sent them to Sitemason to wrap up the project.
UI Design
Using the mid-fidelity prototype as a guide, I then created a high-fidelity mockup of the home screen. Once done with the home screen, I sent the design to Sitemason to show the client. The client was happy with the design and layout, so I moved on to the subpages. Sitemason requested that I design a few different subpages that they could then use as a template for the rest of the site. The main pages I designed were the About, FAQ, Blog and Store/Checkout.
3. Design
Logo Design
During discovery the client mentioned they wanted a more modern logo to go with their redesigned website. The first thing I did was make the logo one color. Then I picked a typeface that would work well with the mark and the overall aesthetic. Since the client didn’t want a big change to the logo, I left the logo mark alone and simply stacked the text to the right, similar to the previous logo, but left aligned.
What I would do differently
If I had the chance do this project over, here are the ways I would change the process:
- Push to talk directly with the client
- Do user testing on the site's usability and the checkout process
- Put more “What Not to Dos” in the style guide