Designing a website to appeal to Onfolk’s customers

Introduction

I’m Bryn Taylor — a freelance designer and I worked with the Onfolk team to design and build their new website (the one you’re on right now). Don’t send any praise my way for the wonderful new Onfolk brand — that was all Natalie Price.

In this post I’m going to walk through the process we ran to ensure that the new website appeals to Onfolk’s current and future customers.

Build an understanding of the audience and the industry

A good design outcome starts from a strong understanding. An understanding of the audience you’re designing for, and the industry that Onfolk sits in. Being external to Onfolk has it’s upsides — like fresh perspectives. But it also means you’re lacking the background and context of Onfolk built over a long time.

So the start of this project was all about absorbing information and asking questions. Some of the questions we discussed:

1. What does a typical customer for Onfolk look like?
2. Will your typical customers change as Onfolk grows?
3. What’s a typical journey for an Onfolk customer, specifically before they arrive at the website?
4. What are common objections that your customers have?
5. Can you talk about the differences between the head of finance and the head of people customer types?

Learning about the wider landscape involved conversations, looking at direct and indirect competitors and reading internal documentation. And lastly, an important one — using the Onfolk product. See how it works and what it can do.

The two levels of appealing to Onfolk’s customers

Level 1: Decisions based on design fundamentals

Depending on your definition of design — “good design” can be subjective. But still, there are many design heuristics. Getting just these right will already put you above most websites. Some general best practices like:

1. The website is straightforward to use and navigate
2. The website can be accessed from any device
3. The website loads fast
4. Elements are organised in a logical hierarchy
5. Content is legible and readable

Level 2: Decisions specific to Onfolk

This is where it gets more specific to what is unique about Onfolk. This links tightly with the Onfolk brand work that was run parallel by Natalie. This includes making design decisions based on the following questions:

1. What are the key differentiators about Onfolk compared to other payroll and HR products?
2. How do we appeal to the company founder, head of operations, head of finance, and head of people — when they all have different needs?
3. What are the specific pain points potential Onfolk customers have with their current processes?
4. How does the website support Onfolk’s journey to be an established player in the space?
5. How do we make sure that Onfolk feels grownup, solid and trustworthy?

Feedback loops throughout the project

Throughout the process, putting in-progress work in front of customers was important. Naz would share what we were working on in their customer Slack channel. We’d share screenshots, links or presentations to get quick, gut-reactions from real customers. The aim: give us a more accurate indication of how it might be received when launched.

A new website isn’t a once-and-done thing

To wrap up — creating something that your customers resonate with and get value from isn’t something you just do once. The world is constantly changing, and so should your website. Treat it like a living thing. As your understanding of your customers and the problems you are solving grows — reflect that understanding through your website.