The Challenge
Town websites often become outdated without active management. While smaller towns may seem insignificant to some, they hold great importance to their residents. My hometown, Fuzhou, China, possesses an outdated and unappealing website due to neglect. Despite China's advanced status, its website design lags behind. With a desire to showcase Fuzhou's attractions, I aim to redesign its website.
Goals
Having experienced both China and America, I've been fortunate to immerse myself in diverse design trends. As I embraced this endeavor, I was determined to blend both design styles while respecting their unique cultural essence. I want to refresh Fuzhou's appeal through a modernized website design that incorporates Chinese aesthetics. By highlighting the city's diverse attractions, I aim to engage visitors and ignite their curiosity.
Deisgn Process
Background Research: Mapping Paths to Illuminate My Homeland
I initiated the process by creating a mind map outlining the website's content. I identified numerous potential approaches for informing viewers about my home country. This approach allowed me to systematically refine my focus and prioritize elements that hold personal significance. I drew inspiration from the original website, aiming to retain its core content while strategically incorporating supplementary elements that I deemed beneficial.
Competitive Analysis: Design Direction and Cultural Influence
With a preliminary vision for my website in mind, I conducted a competitive analysis, contrasting Chinese and Western design principles. While Chinese websites often emphasize text density and content compression, Western websites prioritize ample white space and aesthetic appeal. Recognizing the merits of both approaches, I chose to embrace the design conventions of Chinese websites for this project. I further augmented my understanding by examining the original website and reviewing another Chinese website for additional insights.
User Research: Cultivating Universal Engagement
In my user research, I aimed to encompass a diverse spectrum of potential site visitors, spanning various backgrounds to ensure the website's universal appeal beyond China's borders.
Visual Research: Capturing the Essence of Fuzhou
I curated a collection of images aligning with my website's desired aesthetic. While adhering to China's traditional color palette, predominantly red, I introduced complementary hues to infuse a contemporary flair into the designs. My primary inspiration stemmed from captivating photographs captured within China, highlighting its picturesque locales that hold significant allure.
Site Map & Wireframes: Navigating the Design Journey
Derived from insights gathered in my competitive analysis, I devised a comprehensive site map. While retaining key elements from the original website, I expanded the navigational options to encompass a broader exploration of Fuzhou's attractions. Following this, I delineated the layout for the home page and the targeted section through initial sketches. To ensure a cohesive design, I then crafted mid-fidelity wireframes, particularly recognizing the prominence of a grid-based structure in the design composition.
Mock Ups: Transforming Vision into Reality
Having built my wireframes and gathering the necessary content, I embarked on the pivotal phase of bringing my vision to life - the construction of the actual web pages. Commencing this process, I initiated with the development of the web page, ensuring its alignment with the envisioned design. Subsequently, I seamlessly transitioned to adapting and translating the web design into a mobile-friendly format, ensuring a harmonious user experience across both platforms. I've also included demos for both these applications.
Takeaways
This project was both challenging and enjoyable. I learned a lot about the differences between Chinese and Western design, which was really interesting. Since I study in the US, I don't often get to explore different design styles, so this was a great opportunity. It felt rewarding to improve something meaningful to me.
