Musings from a VP, Marketing ///
Two months ago, to the day, we launched our refreshed Survey Roundtable community site. The initiative had been long-coming (if I’m being honest)—we’d spent so many years focused on delivering the highest quality output, we’d let our input slide. Design? Dated. Language? Dated. Registration process? Technically accurate (this bit we update regularly). But user-experience? Dated.
It was time.
So Dana and I took up the charge. As senior manager, community relations, Dana possessed an intimate knowledge of how Survey Roundtable members entered and interacted with our panel site. I would draw upon decades of web experience, from navigation development through UX. Together, we ultimately decided there wouldn’t be a pixel or process we wouldn’t touch: Every single bit of SRT got a new look, tone, function—or all three.
The effort was taxing and meticulous. What would appear to be a tiny choice on one part of the site often had a monumental impact elsewhere. This resulted in a steady stream of communication between Dana and I that could likely be an entire blog of its own. Then, one day, we were ready to beta test. One-hundred percent of our participants liked the design, calling it “easier to navigate,” “more modern,” and “inviting.” Score! Let’s officially launch this puppy. Our work here is done.
But here’s the thing about these sorts of builds: They’re not over just because we say they’re over. Even two months out, there’s consistent fine-tuning of the back end. Plus, revamping of email invites. New banner ads. Translations into umpteen languages.
So it looks like this project is far from over. And I bet as soon as we feel that it is, it’ll be time to start a panel refresh all over again.
