UX AGENT: WOUTER DE BRES
Psychology proved a perfect training ground for Wouter de Bres, who now climbs inside people’s heads in his role as a product designer. Placing simplicity at the heart of user experience, Wouter has worked with MyTaxi to improve the app’s UX, explored digital publishing possibilities for Dutch news outlet De Volkskrant, and created date-picker app Invy. When not trying to inhabit the minds of users, Wouter loves to paint, chop wood, and ride his motorcycle.
For this mission, Wouter is working out of Leiden, The Netherlands, with the Gibbon.co crew: Petar Radošević, Joeri Djojosoeparto, Wout Laban, Thomas Offinga, and Menno Wildeboer.
UX MISSION: TOTAL WEBSITE TRANSFORMATION
Wouter and the team transformed Gibbon.co from a community learning site into a knowledge-sharing service for teams. This mission required a complete reworking of an existing site.
TOOLS
Sketch and Sublime Text. “We like to design straight in the browser with HTML/CSS because this is faster and it makes it easier to understand how the design will work in the flow,” Wouter said.
HOW THE MISSION PLAYED OUT
Pivoting Gibbon.co from a community-focused learning site to a team-focused knowledge sharing site required a complete overhaul, from how users navigate to what users read. Key actions:
• Employ a clean, calm layout that places content first.
To accomplish this task, the team used a 12×12 block grid to align elements. (Grid not visible to users.) “Our goal was to make the interface as unobtrusive as possible to let the user focus on the content,” Wouter said.
• Shift from top navigation to side navigation.
“In our last version, everything was very much hidden in a top navigation with drop-down menus,” Wouter said. The new site features a sidebar to the left, with all key navigation options and actions visible.
• Write appealling copy that supports a great user experience.
As example, Wouter cites naming Gibbon’s paid plan the “Brilliant” plan. “Our users can become brilliant, which sounds much more appealing” than “paid plan.”
• Approach site design as a continuing process, not a finished product.
Take it away, Wouter: “Since this is a completely new version, we will need to learn a lot from our users to see if we are heading into the right direction. There is no sudden leap into the UX stratosphere. The only way to become a great product with a brilliant user experience is to take it step-by-step.”
Next step: Redesigning Gibbon’s apps. Stay tuned to Wouter’s Dribbble account for updates.
Find Wouter at Dribbble, on Twitter, and at wouterdebr.es.
The UX Files is an occasional series about UX designers. Fit the bill? Email stories@dribbble.com.
Find more Process stories on our blog Courtside. Have a suggestion? Contact stories@dribbble.com.
