What is Ballard Designs?
Transcription
What is Ballard Designs?
What is Ballard Designs? Ballard Designs is a European Inspired Home Furnishing Company based out of Atlanta, GA. The business has been around for 25+ years and is a Multi-Channel Retailer, providing sales through Retail Stores, Catalogs and E-Commerce. The company was started in 1983 by Helen Ballard Weeks. In 1997, they joined CornerStone Brands along with other popular brands like Frontgate, Garnet Hill, Grandin Road, Improvements and Smith+Noble. They were acquired in 2005 by IAC/Interactive Corp. In 2008, the company and it’s sister brands were purchased under the HSN Inc. Brand (Home Shopping Network). The company has over 100 employees in the state of Georgia. More based out of the Cornerstone Brand Offices in Ohio. Retail locations in Florida, Georgia and New York. A Multi-Channel Retailer Ballard Designs markets their product through retail locations in Florida, Ohio, Georgia and New York, Catalog Promotions and E-Commerce (Online Marketing). Early Career Responsibilities (2005- 2008) • Hired in August of 2005 as a Designer • Initial Responsibilities involved Catalog Layout, Design and Production Art • Promoted to Web Designer in 2006 • Responsibilities Evolved into Email Marketing, Landing Page Design, E-Commerce Marketing Design • Began HTML, CSS and Javascript Development in 2006 (Emails and Landing Pages) • Assisted in Hiring Jr. Designer in 2007 and aided in Training and Development • Architected Design of Ballard Style Studio in 2008 (Ballard’s Social Media Project) • Departed Ballard Designs in 2008 to pursue New Career Challenges • Report directly to Creative Director and Director of E-Commerce Email Marketing Designs (2005-2008) Accomplishments (2005-2008) • Used Usability and Marketing Analytic Data to Increase Performance in Email Marketing, Landing Pages and E-Commerce Marketing • Worked with E-Commerce Management to Improve Mailing List Growth from 200,000 to 500,000 • Orchestrated Segmented Email Campaigns and Dynamic Content to Target Specific Users • Implemented Design of Adobe Scene 7 360/Zoom Viewer • Designed Initial Concepts of Ballard Style Studio • Designed Initial Concepts for Ballard Designs Market Live Redesign “With great power, comes great responsibility.” – Uncle Ben Yes, I quoted Uncle Ben. I departed Ballard Designs in pursuit of career growth and opportunity to expand on my technical skills in HTML, CSS, jQuery, PHP and Coldfusions. I wanted more hands on responsibility, more walls to scale, more opportunities to be heroic. “The prodigal son returns.” And just like that, I returned to Ballard Designs in 2010 under a different role and higher expectations. My skill set had improved both as a Design and a Front-end Developer, plus I had increased client communication skills. Ballard Designs was/is an awesome place to work (The picture is my son). Career Responsibilities (2010-2012) • • • • • • • • • • • Returned as Sr. Web Designer in 2010 Took Control of E-Commerce Redesign in IBM Websphere Continued work in Online Marketing including Hiring Staff Integrated into Product Development Team (Agile/Scrum Process) Managed Marketing Design Team (Goals and Reviews) Directed CornerStone Brand Development Support Team Lead Designer in E-Commerce Redesign Lead Designer in Mobile E-Commerce Initiatives Lead Designer in Tablet E-Commerce Initiatives Researched/Studied Usability in E-Commerce across Device Channels Reported Concepts, Research, Studies directly to Director of ECommerce, V.P. of Creative, V.P. of Marketing, V.P. and President Continued Email Marketing (2010) These Designs were a part of a complete rebranding within E-Commerce. My responsibilities included establishing the brand (along with the V.P. of Creative’s approval). Once I established a look and feel, I managed the continued development of Online Marketing creative going forward. Online Marketing Management Process • • • • • Established Look and Feel for Marketing Designed and Developed Email HTML for Deployment Trained Staff on Design and Email HTML Best Practices Implemented Marketing Management Process using Jira Manage ongoing Execution of Marketing Task E-Commerce Redesign (2011) Skeuomorphism was the trend across brand. Textures were a hefty influence on majority of designs. This included Catalog and Retail Marketing. E-Commerce Redesign (2012) E-Commerce Redesign (2012) E-Commerce Redesign (2012) E-Commerce Redesign (2012) E-Commerce Project Process • • • • • • • • • • Discussed Design/Usability Initiatives with Product Development Team Executed (Jira) Assigned Task involving Usability Improvements Met Daily (Scrum) to Discuss Design/Development Task and Scope Designed Wireframes for each section of E-Commerce • Homepage, Category, Product, Account, Cart and Checkout Process Worked with Developers on Interface Concepts Developed HTML and CSS for Pages in a Controlled Development Environments Tested Developed/Integrated Features in DEV, QA and Staging Environments Approved Completed Task for Stage Deployment and Production Migration Iteratively Wireframed/Designed Usability Improvements in E-Commerce with a Sprint Style Process (Lean UX sort of) Designed, Researched, Studied, Developed, Tested and Repeat. Tablet E-Commerce Concepts (2012). As Tablet E-Commerce began to grow, we began to test our Market. I led these concepts using inspiration from HSN, Target, Amazon and Nike. The goal initially was to create an HTML5, Web E-Commerce Application that users could engage for product browsing and shopping. Tablet E-Commerce Concepts (2012). Tablet E-Commerce Concepts (2012). Tablet E-Commerce Process • Coordinated Initial Meetings with Stakeholders to discuss Internal Assumptions for E-Commerce and Mobile • Wireframes and Designed Concepts based on Study and Research of Market Trends • Studied Development/Technical Acumen for Mobile Design Initiatives and Suggested Paths for Development Team (HTML5 Web vs Native iOS vs Responsive Web) • Implemented Designs for Development Team (HTML, CSS) • Work through Conceptual Prototypes in Sprint Cycle • Test Concepts with Users using Gorilla (face to face) Tactics • Studied Usability through Video Recorded, Scripted Sessions • Collected, Analyzes and Suggested Improvements based on User Feedback Digital Catalog Design (2011-2012) We also tested a Digital Catalog Concept with our Market. We released 4 issues through 2011-2012, downloadable via iTunes App Store. Digital Catalog Design (2011-2012) The Digital Catalog had both Browsing and Shopping capabilities. Tablet Digital Catalog Process • Coordinated Initial Meetings with Stakeholders to discuss Internal Assumptions for Digital Catalog • Studied Market Trends in Digital Catalog Design and Development • Implemented Test Application for Stakeholder Presentation within 3 Days • Implemented Designs of Initial Issues for Release in August 2011 • Released Application to iTunes App Store August 2011 • Release, Studied, Research Usability of Application for Future Issues • Organized Usability Testing through Scripted Test and Gorilla Testing Techniques • Used User Feedback to Iteratively Improve Digital Catalog through 4 Issues Ballard Style Studio Redesign (2011) Style Studio Process • Coordinated Initial Meetings with Stakeholders to discuss Internal Assumptions for Style Studio Redesign • Focused of New Feature Implementations in Redesign • Created a Mobile Responsive Approach to New Features • Managed and Directed Web Designer on Branding, Design, Development and Implementation of the Project • Organized Meeting with Internal Stakeholders to Review Requirements and Ensure Project met Expectations • Manage Outside Development Team on New Feature Implementations • Launched Redesign in December 2011 My Product Development Involvement? I received a lot of questions in regard to my involvement with Product Development. Here’s a list explaining my general involvement in the process of implementing improvements across the board. Product Development Involvement • Coordinated Initial Meetings with Stakeholders to discuss Internal Assumptions for Projects • Worked Directly with Project Managers on Defining Requirements for New Projects in which I was the Lead (Table E-Commerce) • Reviewed Requirements for New Features or Projects with Project Manager • Active in Sprint Process and Met Daily to Report Project Updates • Work included Design (Wireframes, High Fidelity) and Front-end Development (HTML, CSS, jQuery) • Continued to Work on Improvements as Assigned in Jira (Agile Process) • Reported Directly to Director of E-Commerce, V.P. of Creative, V.P. Marketing, V.P. and President (on occasion) Technical (Front-end)Development Involvement? Surprisingly I’ve done quite a bit of front-end work. Most of my experience has required HTML, CSS or jQuery Development. To a lesser extent, I’ve been ask to build out dynamic pages using PHP, Coldfusion or .Net. My dynamic content relates to Content Management and E-Commerce Product Management Integrations. More questions? Obviously I enjoyed working at Ballard Designs. I worked there twice and it’s the most organized experience I’ve been a part of. As a Home Shopping Network brand, online projects were highly encouraged and budgets were abundant for conferences, training, user study and improvement. Hopefully you can gather from the presentation that my experience is of great value and my motivation is strong. However, if you have additional questions, please do not hesitate to ask. You may also view my work online. Arthur MacMillan 703.731.9524 | www.arthurmac.com www.linkedin.com/in/arthurmacmillan www.twitter.com/GoodToKnowArt