Myerson
User-centred website for the dynamic commercial law firm
Myerson is a leading commercial and private law firm for businesses and high net worth individuals based in Altrincham. It primarily serves the greater Manchester and Cheshire regions, as well as the rest of the UK. Cyber-Duck was asked to create a user-focused website that reflected their dynamic brand.
Objectives
Myerson went through a rebrand four years ago. This established the distinctive and colourful Myerson logo and other brand assets.
A new website was also built and launched. But it struggled to keep up with evolving web standards and the visual style and verve of the new brand.
Cyber-Duck was chosen to design and develop a new website that was more reflective of the business’ mission, culture, objectives and users’ needs. Our objectives were to:
- Satisfy the needs of Myerson’s three audiences: business, personal and family law.
- Produce a website that reflected Myerson’s knowledge and capabilities, with a personal touch.
User-centred design strategy
Cyber-Duck worked to understand how Myerson operates with its clients to achieve a balance between the business needs and those of the end user. We did this through running stakeholder interviews with the senior partners and department heads, before conducting interviews with the key persona types identified.
Based upon the research we conducted, we created persona cards that represented key audience segments and needs. These painted a picture of whom we’re designing for and why. We used them throughout the design process to challenge any decisions we made.
By better understanding client and consumer perception, alongside drivers of behaviour, we produced a more persuasive design and information architecture (IA). Through a core model workshop, we facilitated how Myerson’s services would be categorised and structured in the new website. The new IA integrated the requirements around search and relevant content, such as specialist areas, staff, case studies and insights.
We wireframed and prototyped all key interfaces and interactions within the website. The process was iterative, working from lower fidelity sketch prototypes to a semi-functional and responsive web prototype. We provided content assistance for the key top level pages, including the home page, about us, contact us, business services overview, private services overview, sectors overview and team page.
Technology and SEO
By including SEO early on, it prevents any SEO considerations from becoming a simple ‘bolt on’ at the end of the project. This yields a greater impact on the website’s search engine positions than not considering it at all, therefore improving the website’s online visibility.
Cyber-Duck audited the existing website and their analytics set up, along with conducting keyword research and a meta data refresh. Our marketing recommendations fed into the sitemap and wireframes.
The website was developed using SilverStripe, an accessible, open-source, and easy-to-use CMS.
Results
The end result of the project is a visually stimulating and highly engaging website that captures Myerson’s brand, while showcasing all that is great about the firm.
User engagement is actively encouraged, with relevant content displayed at every opportunity to help advance the user journey and convert them into a lead.
The website hasn’t been live for very long but initial results are looking good, with strong increases in organic rankings for Myerson’s key search terms, as well as engagement across the website with bounce rates reducing and time on site increasing.