WeatherBug Website
by Earth Networks
Website Concept, Redesign, UX/UI, Responsive, Data Visualization
About The Product
Since 2000 WeatherBug.com has been providing comprehensive weather and climate data as well as news related media. In 2012, WeatherBug.com was the second most accessed weather information service on the internet. Currently the site's unique usership surpasses 2 million users annually. Visit WeatherBug.com
Scope Of Work
Complete redesign to reflect a cleaner more modern page layout while updating and adding relevant components as unanimously requested by users.
Challenges
WeatherBug.com's page layouts were based on a carded design made famous by sites like Pinterest. The site's aesthestics were clunky, lacked basic components, needed updated elements, and the user interface was not optimized for the best experience. Data visualization lacked a story telling presence. Determining why users should visit WeatherBug.com for their comprehensive weather information versus a competitor.
Approach
Researching user requests through thousands of comments and emails. Cross-collaboration with marketing, advertising, and meteorological operations to determine new stakeholder requirements and information priority. Determining feasibility of design and development time.
Process
The main priority focused on revenue generation via advertising or user memberships. Exposing users to alternative ways of consuming WeatherBug data/information (mobile app, Apple watch app, TV interface, etc.) as well as other services provided by Earth Networks. Use of web analytics to determine the average time a user spends on a particular page and the secondary information a user may seek. Prototyping and testing of mocks to gauge user experience.
Result
After approval from stakeholders, final designs were handed off to senior leadership for further evaluation.
Metrics
Conceptual designs are still under review. Based on statistics, integration of native advertising raised expectations of generating 15% more advertising revenue and a 20% gain in user visits.