2024 Emoti-con Home | Past Events | Judge Login Virtual Emoti-con

“Heightsites Website Redesign Proposal”

Finalist
High School Students from Tech Kids Unlimited
Type of Project:
  • Business & Marketing,
  • UX/UI Design,
  • Visual Art & Design
Themes of Project:
  • Culture/Heritage,
  • Resource Sharing
Screen Shot 2023 05 16 at 9 58 00 PM

About this Project:

The TKU Digital Agency has been enlisted to redesign the current Heightsites website to strengthen the user interaction experience.

For context, Heightsites shares the wonderful artistic and cultural events happening in Washington Heights and Inwood.

This project is the first phase of their client deliverable package. The team conducted research on plug-ins and modern visual design best practices, and presented them to the client. This research addresses concerns and questions the client raised during initial feedback sessions. The Agency will continue developing the website according to the client's direction.

Some key suggested features:
- Enable a registration feature (using a plug-in)
- Simplify and consolidate the navigation bar
- Implement a vibrant, visual calendar for events.

Project Media

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Community Feedback:

👾 
Fun
🚀 
Innovative
🌎 
Helpful
🌈 
Great Design
💡 
Makes Me Think

Feedback from the Judges:

👏 Senior Software Engineer at Gusto — Emoti-Con Judge
I really loved the idea of overhauling the website for the events. I think it will really help to use the plug-ins as it will provide better filtering capabilities depending on interests, categories, price, neighborhood, etc. I would love to see accessibility beyond languages, to make sure that the website is navigable for folks who are color-blind, it should also be navigable through the keyboard only and have a text-to-speech component. I loved how y'all thought about accessibility and inclusion, it is something that gets often overlooked. The UI/UX would also help distinguish actionable components (buttons, links, etc.) which are currently hard to understand. Overall, I think it would have a fantastic impact with better UX and make the site more accessible. For registration, I would recommend putting a bot check to avoid spam.

👏 Digital Strategy Specialist at HP Inc. — Emoti-Con Judge
Hi, Team!
A heartfelt congratulations to each and every one of you on this fantastic achievement! The task of enhancing a website's UX/UI is no small feat. The demand for seamless and engaging interfaces from today's discerning users makes it a substantial responsibility, and yet, you rose to the challenge impeccably! 👏🏼 💻👏🏼
Your successful presentation of the proposal is a testament to the tremendous work you've accomplished thus far. The progress and learning you have garnered throughout this journey is nothing short of impressive. You should take immense pride in your growth and the strides you've made.
Your understanding of user engagement is truly commendable. You've grasped the essence of vibrant interaction, recognizing that it extends a user's session on the site. Coupling this with a palette of striking colors and high-resolution imagery creates a captivating experience, further drawing in the user. Your website is absolutely customer-centric! However, let's not forget the importance of site performance. As we continue to refine our work, it's crucial to ensure that your site and its features load swiftly. A slow response time can lead to user frustration and ultimately, disengagement. Let's strive to minimize any potential hurdles that could deter users from enjoying their journey on your site.
I would like to encourage you all to delve deeper into the world of digital solutions and logos design. One valuable resource that can aid in your continued learning is https://m3.material.io/. Pay special attention to the Styles/Color System section - incorporating this knowledge into your work will undoubtedly elevate your designs. ✌😉 Additionally, I suggest that you familiarize yourselves with some of the competitors in the website development space, such as Mobirise. You can explore their site at https://mobirise.com/. By examining their styles, features, and frameworks, you'll gain a broader understanding of the current landscape and perhaps discover new tools and methodologies to implement in your own work. You might even consider using their platform for comparison or to gain inspiration. Remember, the key to mastering any craft is a commitment to lifelong learning. As you continue to learn and grow, you'll unlock new ways to bring creativity and innovation to your designs. The digital world moves super fasts...designers, coders, programmers...move fast, too!
It's essential to pay close attention to copyright laws. To avoid potential infringement issues, consider using royalty-free images. Websites such as Pexels (https://www.pexels.com/) offer a vast collection of high-quality photos that you can use freely. As you are going to use community images, no worried about, but in case you change the decision, keep in mind the recommendation! 👀🤓 I love the map image in your web-header! The sizing and optimization of all the images are crucial. Ensuring they are appropriately sized will help maintain swift loading times for your site. A seamless and quick loading experience is fundamental to user engagement and satisfaction. Consider incorporating multimedia elements into your site. Adding videos and background music can provide an immersive experience that could truly captivate your users. It's an exciting prospect worth exploring!
As you strive to streamline the account creation process for the users, consider integrating third-party sign-in options such as Facebook, Google, and Apple. This feature could significantly simplify the registration process, reducing friction for new users and ultimately enhancing their initial experience with your platform. To facilitate these connections, you might want to look for a plugin or API that supports such integrations. Remember, the easier we make it for users to create an account, the more likely they are going to engage with your platform. 💻😀
In order to fine-tune our prototype, I strongly recommend conducting user testing across a diverse range of ages. It will quickly become evident that usage patterns and demands vary significantly across different age groups. For instance, you'll find that younger demographics, particularly teens and those under 30, often appreciate seamless integration between platforms and social media. Therefore, consider linking your newsletters and news updates to popular social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram. Such a feature could increase engagement among this demographic, keeping them informed and connected with your events! By testing with a varied audience, you can ensure your product is universally intuitive and appealing, catering to the unique needs and preferences of all our users! Customer and User-centric always! 👍
I hope these suggestions inspire you to continue enhancing your project.
I would like to reiterate my deepest congratulations on your outstanding achievement. You should take immense pride in being the architects behind the 'Heightsites Website Redesign'. Keep up the excellent work!
Envision the users experiencing the energy and dynamism you've infused into this project. As creators, your work embodies innovation and captivating design that was previously unimagined!
Keep up the fantastic work, your unbridled creativity and determination are a beacon of inspiration to the community! Thanks and Congrats! 👏🏼 💻👏🏼

👏 IT Infrastructure Support at ArcherPoint — Emoti-Con Judge
The number of school websites that look like they were built 20+ years ago is too big. I love your idea of using WordPress because it's versatile with all the various plug-ins that exist, and you can even create custom-tailored ones with AI tools. You can ask AI language models (like ChatGPT) to create a WordPress plug-in for the features you want, and they would work (most of the time). You are 1000% correct that newsletters work, but so does social media. Adding things like TikTok and Instagram, maybe even Twitter, would connect Parents, students and faculty on a much bigger scale and give you excuses to make TikToks about school events, so I see that as a win-win. I love your design choices and esthetics. I think it would be an amazing improvement.

👏 Senior Product Manager at CVS Health — Emoti-Con Judge
This project really resonated with me given my experience redesigning government websites at the NYC health department to maximize opportunities for reach and impact of our mental health programs. At a most basic level, if users cant access information and programming, its as if it doesnt exist at all. Kudos for keeping it simple to address a clearly defined problem.

One thing I learned from my similar experience is its helpful to have a maintenance plan: how does the website stay up to date after your project is over? Considering the maintenance phase of the product lifecycle is often forgotten, and doing so can set you apart as forward-thinking and pragmatic.

I applaud you for coming up with an original approach. I encourage you to consider work in digital roles in the public sector. Talent is very much needed to address issues just like this!

Thank you for your support! Comments are closed for this year. Join us to look forward to next year's projects!