Company
Addison Lee
Industry
Transport
Role
User Research
Interface Design
Graphic Design
Photography
Background
Novartis is a global healthcare company striving to reimagine medicine – driving the application of innovative science and technology in order to improve and prolong people’s lives. One of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world, they are currently undergoing a period of digital transformation with the goal of streamlining operations, minimising costs and enhancing decision-making.
To achieve this, Novartis has launched initiatives across the business, equipping departments with the resources to develop digital solutions that transform their work processes.
The problem
A premium transport and courier company operating in over 350 cities worldwide, Addison Lee is synonymous with service excellence.
As part of plans to drive business expansion across both the United Kingdom and globally, Addison Lee invested in a complete brand overhaul – the first rebrand in its 40 year history. By upgrading their presentation and pivoting the brand to be in possession of a modern and refined visual identity, Addison Lee hoped to distinguish themselves from their competitors.
The process
It’s tempting when faced with tight deadlines to dive head first into the work. But without dedicating time to properly understand the problems and requirements, I knew I risked wasting effort in areas that would provide little value to either the business or its customers.
As a first step, I reached out to the business stakeholders to better understand their expectations and goals for Addison Lee. Defining this helped guide the direction I took, as it set expectations and created a starting point for the design vision and deliverables.
From the conversations it was clear that while there was a desire for a more cohesive brand image, it was mainly driven by declining profits and the need for improved customer conversion. With savvier competitors emerging on the market, customers were no longer content with outdated systems and confusing interfaces. They expected transport services that delivered simplicity and convenience.
From this I determined my goals were to improve consumer perception of the brand with an engaging visual identity; drive conversion through intuitive navigation; and create a frictionless booking experience that reduces consumer drop-off.
Understanding the landscape
Beginning with a heuristic analysis to evaluate the website and reveal usability issues, it was immediately apparent why users were abandoning the site. The website was outdated, peppered with broken links and a complex navigational structure. The many forgotten and obsolete service offerings only amplified the confusion.
I decided to start from scratch with a detailed site map which provided the team with a clear structure for the website, and a navigation flow which made sense to the users. The creation of a site map also meant that I had a bird’s eye view which helped to identify patterns in the structure, streamlining the work and allowing me to focus on high-value pages.
Fast-paced ideation
Generating ideas through low-fidelity wireframes, I relied on guerrilla testing to verify the usability of the concepts produced before refining with polished visuals and interactive behaviours.
Creating compelling design
When considering how I approached the visual design, it was important to highlight the elements that defined the new look of Addison Lee. In particular, I focused on application of the colour across the digital landscape to reinforce brand recognition.
Strategic use of yellow helped draw attention to important elements, while large swatches of taupe and grey balanced elements by creating a natural flow for the user to navigate through the content.
This was applied against a backdrop of bold imagery, uncomplicated navigation and clean layouts which emphasized content. Throughout the site, interactions enrich the experience. I applied animated line elements that encourage site visitors to scroll, and hover behaviour that revealed additional content.
Photography
As well as leading a team of designers in creating visual material for the full range of products and collateral, I produced a bank of images to be used across the brochure site and social media. These images were captured against a backdrop of iconic London sights, emphasising the heritage and history of Addison Lee.
The result
Within the first three months of their brand relaunch, Addison Lee experienced significantly stronger visitor engagement on their website comparable to the previous year. The strengthened user experience achieved the goal of driving conversion and reducing customer drop-off during the booking process, resulting in increased revenue.
Overall, brand awareness rose from 50% to 70%, with an 11% value growth.