Downtown Boone Development Association
2023
Downtown Boone Website
Redesigning an important community organization's website
Overview
A local organization in need of modernization
The Downtown Boone Development Association (DBDA) is an organization that aims to vitalize the downtown area of Boone, North Carolina through public events, encouraging preservation and protection of the town's historical sites, and promotion of beautifying the area for locals and tourists alike.
Despite their important mission, the DBDA had an outdated and very slow website. Running on an old PHP version and a slow server, the team and I at Overmountain Studios knew we could provide the facelift the DBDA needed.
Problem
A website that did not match the mission
The DBDA strives to encourage property owners to protect and preserve the historical landmarks they own and to encourage locals and tourists to experience the beautiful downtown area. The website, in which prospective tourists will visit to plan their trips, must match the beauty of downtown. Visitors to the site must be compelled to explore further, and when they do, the information they need must be easily accessible.
The website they had originally was cluttered and difficult to navigate. There was a lack of visual cues that led a visitor to further explore the website. On top of this, the website was slow and in need of a backend refresh in terms of PHP updates and lightening the heavy image load.
Redesign
Turning a new leaf
Alongside two developers working the backend to improve load times and website functionality, I was able to design a visually engaging homepage that invited users to "stay a while." It was important for me to bring a welcoming and friendly vibe to the site while keeping the information easy to digest. I used the colors from the DBDA logo to create a color palette that was reminiscent of the mountains visible from the downtown Boone area. I integrated local photos to showcase the charm of the area, enticing site visitors to become real-life visitors.
Reflection
A pivotal moment in my early career
This project was completed during my internship at Overmountain Studios. I was a semester away from graduating college, and this project was my second Wordpress/Elementor project I was head of. Many of the elements of the website, especially the video hero section on the homepage, were steep learning curves for me. This website design provided me the most space to try, fail, learn, and try again. Trial and error were my freniemes during this project, however, I learned many new skills with Wordpress and Elementor, and even a little PHP (thanks, backend devs!).
In essence, this project:
- Gave me space to learn and try new approaches of designing within the Elementor editor
- Challenged me in many ways, leading to lots of learned lessons
- Taught me the importance of taking a step back and reassessing a project with a fresh mindset
