New Identity, New Website: Hypnose Walch
Role: Website UI Designer
Research (client interviews, competitive analysis and usability testing)
Design (site UI, writing, and branding kit)
Prototyping (animations and interactions)
Timeline: March 2025 (3 weeks)
Discovery
Where would you start if you had to rebuild your digital business presence from scratch?
In my freelance digital marketing capacity, I've been with a long-term client based in the land of snow-capped mountains and fondue (🇨🇭!) looking to expand their business' online visibility. My client had operated in the US for nearly a decade, serving a roster of clientele comprised of friends of friends; now, having recently moved to Switzerland to start anew, it was the perfect time to jumpstart business with the help of the Internet.
When we first started working together, my client already had a website built by another contractor. While there were some problems with the copy and navigation, it was deemed OK destination for interested visitors.
But as bounce rates stayed high and minutes-spent low, and as my client's relationship with the previous website contractor approached a close, I was able to convince them that the website needed an overhaul as well.
Planning
It was important to align the website's new design with the needs of the business and the wants of my client. In a comprehensive interview, I captured pleasure and pain points from the old website:
Pleasure points: cohesive use of brand's colors, decorative and engaging animations, thorough German and English versions, and plenty of information explaining the business and expertise.
Pain points: confusing and duplicate information across the website, incomplete articles and overlay elements, inconsistent use of illustrations vs. photos, and — most importantly — a lack of contact forms for visitors with inquiries.
It was also clear from our conversation that we needed to upgrade the website towards making it easier to understand the benefits of the client's service, as well as build a sense of trustworthiness to counteract distorted depictions from Hollywood and Halloween.
Getting a lay of the land: competitive analysis
My client works as a clinical hypnotherapist, which is an up-and-coming complementary therapy industry especially in western Europe. For instance, when you Google search "hypnotherapy" in my client's city of Basel, Switzerland, you get dozens of practitioners in the same 5-mile radius.
As a result, I conducted a competitive analysis of 5 different hypnotherapy businesses in the area and examined the composition of their websites. I paid special attention to the areas described as pain points by my client, observed how these other businesses decided to navigate them (or not), then quantified my findings in a table.
When it came time to recommend a priority list of design features for the new site, I offered these quantified findings as guidance. For example, I made the case that the blog section was no longer necessary or worthwhile to build, since none of these businesses set one up and still had reasonably well-done SEO without it.
Quantifying my findings across competitors' sites and practicing my German comprehension.
Defining the user journey
Now, the eternal question of UX: how can I understand and address the needs of a user experiencing this website that I'm building?
I synthesized my observations of competitors' sites, my client's past business practices and customers into several user artifacts including three user journey profiles: English Expat Erica, Smoke-Free Simon, and Burnt Out Bruno.
(Erica is the classic client profile: a middle-aged, English-speaking woman who seeks to be back in touch with caring for herself after prioritizing her family and work. Her home duties are heavier now as they're adjusting to a new country.)
We then compared our list of priority design features to our diagnosed user expectations, and adjusted it to its current state for prototyping.
Prototyping
FINALLY, TIME TO BUILD!
With these user journeys and and a list of client-approved features in mind, I started building out the new website.
Take a look for yourself!
