Doubling registrations for SegaNet Tournaments
Lack of navigational consistency kept users from registering for Sega.com's online events. By convincing them to use persona-based workflows, registration numbers increased by more than 200%.
When Sega.com (a division of Sega of America) began their partnership with TeamSphere, they were accustomed to dealing with static, heavily graphical websites.
Introducing TeamSphere's interactive community software into their website created the need for an expanded set of style standards. I worked with their Art Director to encompass error messaging and action confirmations, but was unable to convince them to change the structure of their first tournament site.
Elements in the navigation sidebar were inconsistent depending on what page the user was browsing. The primary task - registering for an online tournament - was confusing. Despite a high level of user anticipation preceding the start of these online tournaments, registration numbers were low.
Luckily, this was just the first in a series of online events. I registered user complaints and used them to make a case for information architecture. For the next tournament, I worked directly with Sega.com's Art Director and Producer to create a wireframe mapping out the "workflow" of the average user.
We focused on the most important goal -- driving tournament registrations -- and made that the visual priority of the homepage. Each page featured consistent navigational elements, and clear messaging.
Consistent sidebar navigation across all Sega.Net/TeamSphere sites drove registrations up and support emails down
During the registration period for this second tournament, Sega.com saw a 200%+ increase in the number of registrations from the previous event, and as the production staff TeamSphere saw a sharp decrease in user complaints.
Based on that success, Sega.com agreed to incorporate a wireframe stage into each new project, and canonized their style guidelines for TeamSphere and their internal web staff.
