January 2020 | Roboboogie.

Woohoo 2020! New Year, new us. For the Roboboogie website, that’s certainly the case. After 8 years of brand evolution and refinement, we’ve arrived, and the latest iteration of our website feels like home. We’re proud to launch a totally new site that feels true to who we are, and is here to stay.

So, in the spirit of New Year’s reflections, let’s hop on the Wayback Machine to see where we’ve been and how we got here. What a long, strange (and wonderful) trip it’s been.

Marketing Agency

It was 2012 when we launched our first-generation website into the web-er-sphere. The global debut of the Roboboogie namesake and our digital storefront @ www.teamroboboogie.com changed the internet forever. This fledgling website is a time capsule of our roots in user-centric design. We did what all the cool kids were doing at the time, opting for a single page, scrolling website, complete with anchor link navigation (ooooh…fancy, right?). The design was unique and full of personality but lacked some design polish (look at all those different type treatments). It also wasn’t particularly mobile-friendly, but that’s really more a sign of the times.

The design incorporated a retro-futuristic background illustration we felt spoke to our forward-thinking creative offerings. Copy and visuals were fun and playful, but maybe a bit over the top in places, with a few too many dad jokes and some really literal talking robot illustrations. The site put us on the map and captured the smart, approachable, and fun-loving spirit that’s still a part of our brand today, but we eventually outgrew it, and moved on to something a bit more refined.

Design Forward

Version 2.0 was a photo-rich, design-forward expression of the Roboboogie brand. Redesign goals addressed a desire to more effectively showcase our design skills, and the critical role of design excellence in our work. We also set out to celebrate the amazing brands we work with. We designed a more iconic version of our logo with the encircled lower case ‘r’ and a simplified color pallet to allow the rich photography and tastefully treated images to be the hero.

Positioning messages were also refined and shifted from ‘UX/UI Design Agency’ to ‘Strategic Design Agency.’ We achieved our design goals, but in the process forgot to practice what we preach around balancing form and function; we neglected the transactional aspects of the site and a need to drive sales lead conversions. Robo 2.0 was much more mobile-friendly, and dabbled with some pretty nifty parallax scrolling transitions. In the end, the site clearly communicated our passion for design and differentiated Roboboogie in the CRO space, but it failed to speak to our unique approach and the incredible results we were getting for our clients. We needed something much more transactional and explanatory.

Productized Services

Enter teamroboboogie.com version 3.0, ‘The Return of a Services-Forward Approach.’ We traded stunning photography for straight-shooting copy and infographics, and put more focus on driving sales and conversions.

We also streamlined and productized our service offerings with the introduction of a new interpretation to the Roboboogie namesake; shifting from what had been the marriage of technology (robo) + creativity (boogie) to a nod to our methodology, the combination of data (robo) + design (boogie). This site worked harder for us, but ultimately it felt a bit soulless, so it was back to the drawing board (I mean Photoshop).

Consultancy

This site had the longest shelf life of any so far, and endured a significant refresh and some page additions and evolutions. We moved away from the DATAwhatever product names and opted back into a more straightforward naming and merchandising strategy for our services. We added a WordPress-managed blog and events page, helping keep our content current and search-relevant.

The site served us well for a few years, but as our team grew and our brand evolved and matured from the inside out, it was time for a new experience that would more authentically represent who we are and what makes us unique.

The New Roboboogie

Well, here it is. The latest iteration of our website and expression of the Roboboogie brand. In some ways, it’s a best of compilation of all we’ve learned through the other designs, but in other significant ways, it’s a complete re-birth of the Roboboogie brand.

We finally drank our own Kool-Aid and took a big step back to really look at our target audience and the true essence of our brand. We set out to include the entire team and create an experience that authentically expresses who we are, what makes us unique, and to paint a clear picture of what its like to work with us and what you can expect the results of an engagement to be. You can read all about what this site means to us and what it took to create this design here.

We’ve already got a list of enhancements and test ideas a mile long, but we think we nailed it. To us, it’s all a part of the never-ending cycle of evolution and optimization. We hope you dig it.

Written by John Gentle, Roboboogie Founder and CXO

Are you dying to know what it takes to be a data-driven designer at Roboboogie? Look no further! This month we’re chatting with Strategic Design Intern, August Wanner, the newest addition to our killer design team. August plays a huge role in our creative process, from design innovation to creative problem solving. Read on to get their thoughts on data-backed design, UX trends, and their approach to solving problems.

How do you describe what you do?

I support the design team in identifying and improving clients’ user interaction experience across websites and apps, in addition to creating graphics for Roboboogie’s social media, office, and website. As an intern, I don’t actually spend my time getting coffee for everyone (but I wouldn’t mind doing that, either.)

What are the most satisfying parts of your role?

It’s amazing to see a project all the way through from conception to execution! Even if it went in a different direction than I expected, it’s so satisfying to know that we put our brains together to create something that can bring joy, ease of use, or connection to the users and clients.

What did you want to be when you grew up? Did you always want to be a designer?

When I was a kid I wanted to be the person who paints promotional illustrations on store windows, which when I think about it is pretty similar to graphic design! I never thought I could actually make it as an artist even though I spent all my free time drawing, so I spent a few years in the middle thinking about going into music education—another form of creativity that challenged me in a way I loved.

But once I learned how to use Photoshop in high school, it was all downhill from there. I took a Graphic Communications class and would finish assignments a week early to work on my personal passion projects, then after school I’d come home and spend a couple more hours on them. I remember thinking to myself, “If I could just work on projects in Photoshop for 8 hours a day and get paid for it, I wouldn’t want anything else.”

What is a skillset that you use every day, but never thought you would have to?

Speaking skills. I used to think that if your project was any good it would speak for itself, but being able to effectively communicate the complex ideas behind any decisions I’ve made is really valuable. Once I stopped presenting my projects with phrases like “I don’t know,” or “So yeah, here it is,” and started owning my design with confidence, I noticed that others were more responsive and I came across capable and in control, even if I didn’t really feel like I was.

How do you approach solving problems?

I break down the larger picture into chunks, and continue breaking those down until I have a list of chronological tasks I can get done in order to complete the main goal. It makes the whole problem seem a lot more approachable when all the bite-sized pieces are neatly organized in my mind, and that organization also makes it a lot easier for me to get a good estimate of how long the project might take. Fun fact: my sketchbook has more lists than actual sketches in it.

What are your favorite online resources (news, blogs, tools) and why?

I read a lot of Medium articles about accessibility, UX/UI, web trends, and design thinking. For general design inspiration I love Muzli. Even if I’m reading about a technique or concept I’m already familiar with, it’s great to get refreshed a little, or just take a look at what other designers are creating outside of my sphere.

What user experience trends or tools are you currently most excited about?

For years now I’ve been wishing I could collaborate on a design project with someone else at the same time, like Google Docs, so I’m really excited that Adobe XD has started supporting coediting! I’m so ready to leave “File_AugustUpdates_R3.xd” behind.

What is some advice you would have for someone who is new to letting data drive their design process?

Discard any preconceived ideas you’re bringing to the project that don’t have the context of specific data points behind them. Those ideas, while they might be exciting and innovative, will just end up stretching and warping until they fit the data, ultimately rendering them unrecognizable and ineffective. Starting with the data and working from there means that the design can be more intentional and ultimately more effective.

Why should people care about good design?

Why should people care about good music, or good art, or good books? Good design makes our lives a little bit better and brighter. Design is all around us, in every product we use and everywhere we look. Good design takes those everyday items, websites, apps, and turns them into something extraordinary.

Thanks for giving us a glimpse into your brain, August! Stay tuned for more interviews with the Roboboogie team & optimization experts coming soon.

Month: January 2020

Roboboogie Through the Years