Website Redesign &
Brand Refresh: Startups
UX & UI Design • Visual Design • Motion Graphics
Project Overview
Client: Startups.
Industry: Online media and advice platform, leading index of UK Startups and small businesses.
My Role: UX & UI Design, Visual Design, and Motion Graphics.
Website: https://startups.co.uk
Introduction
Startups.co.uk is recognised as the UK’s leading online resource for entrepreneurs, providing essential guidance for both launching and scaling a business. The platform is especially well-known for its esteemed annual Startups 100 index, which highlights the top new companies established in the past 3 years.
Our goal was to implement a comprehensive brand refresh and execute a user-focused redesign to restore visual authority and enhance user engagement across the entire digital presence.
The Challenge
The existing website looked outdated, and no longer aligned with the audience’s forward-thinking spirit. The site's dated appearance risked its reputation as the most important source for UK startup information.
The Solution
New Look and Feel:
We completely changed the brand identity. This meant a revised logo, typography, colour palette, icons, illustration style, and tone of voice. We also created brand animations, motion graphics, and social media templates so the brand would look consistent and fresh everywhere.
Focusing on Users:
The UX process was grounded in extensive research, we talked to users, ran workshops, and researched what users needed and critical pain points. We created user personas, redefined user journey, and organised content types. This research guided us on redesigning and transforming the site into a genuinely user-centric, easy to use and helpful for everyone.
Discovery
Data Analysis
We reviewed Google Analytics data for key metrics like conversion rate, time on page, and bounce rate, and analysed Hotjar heatmaps to see how users scrolled and clicked. From this, we created lists of improvements for the new design based on real user behaviour.
HMW Workshop
We kicked off the workshop by reviewing user behavior data. We analyzed heatmaps and scroll depth reports from the current Homepage to understand exactly what users were doing, what sections performed well, and where they faced difficulties. We also benchmarked against best practices from leading content and news sites for design inspiration
Next, we collaborated with stakeholders to generate "How Might We" (HMW) statements. We organised these ideas into themes and voted to prioritise them. The final output of the workshop was a clear list of improvements that directly guided the subsequent design work.
Competitor Research
We started by examining competitor websites to understand how they present their content and find opportunities for improvement. The team collaborated in a workshop, sharing successful features and designs they found useful.
I expanded this input into a deeper review of similar, successful industry sites. The final outcome of this research was the creation of a moodboard to clearly guide the new visual identity and design approach.
To decide on next steps, we had meetings with stakeholders to agree on what changes to include in the redesign plan.
Exploration
Sketching Workshop
Contributed to a session with other designers where we reviewed existing data and key problems, identified the main requirements, and sketched various ideas. We then voted to choose the best concepts to use for the wireframes.
Wireframes Creation
We used the top-voted ideas as the foundation to define the structure and hierarchy of the new website, and create the wireframes. We collaborated closely with the content writers to map out the content layout for each key page.
Design and Prototyping
I partnered with the Brand Design Manager and Head of Creative to explore the new brand identity and translate it into functional prototypes. This stage involved creating multiple design options. We conducted several feedback rounds to refine the visual direction before presenting the finalised designs to stakeholders. Following minor adjustments based on their review, the final designs were approved.
Documentation & Handover
Engineering Handover
We prepared comprehensive handover documents for the engineering team. These documents included the finalised style guide, component states, and all necessary assets, such as exported icons and illustrations, along with precise details on columns and spacing.
Following this, we held a dedicated session to walk the engineers through all designs and new features.
Quality Assurance & UAT
Once the staging site was ready, the Senior Product Designer and I led User Acceptance Testing (UAT). Working together, we recorded all identified issues in a structured spreadsheet. Problems were clearly separated into either visual or technical categories, and a priority list was assigned.
Brand Design & Motion Graphics
Our work involved creating a fresh, impactful visual identity with a strong focus on its flexibility across a wide range of design and experience systems. A Senior Brand Designer and a Design Manager led the identity creation. My collaboration with them was focused on foundational work, including workshops, moodboard creation, and idea generation.
The animations were designed to bring this identity to life. By using dynamic typography movement, we visually emphasised the brand's publishing authority. We also highlighted the dot as a key visual symbol, reinforcing its digital impact and solidifying its role as a trusted resource for entrepreneurs.
Organic & Paid Social Templates
After the identity was finalised, I supported the team by animating assets for multiple purposes and creating design templates for the marketing team to ensure visual consistency across all channels, matching the quality of the new user experience (UX).
