Project Background
Sky running might be seen by many as an extreme sport, arguably crazy sport, but the thrill and exhilaration of racing across some of the country's most incredible scenery and technical trails cannot be understated.
The Lake District is home to world class trails and there aren't many people who don't know them as well as Sky Trails Race Director Charlie Sproson.
His website, built on an earlier version of Craft CMS was in need of an upgrade and visual refresh. But with Covid having had a huge impact on events the brief was to work with as much of the existing framework as possible to minimise changes to the overall content structure of the site.
Given the age of the site, the previous design style was constrained to a fixed width in the browser. But sky running is all about the escapism and freedom of running along ridges, tackling gnarly mountain climbs and flowy descents. We wanted to create a more immersive experience that would show the determination of runners set against a stunning backdrop.
Switching the Content Flow
The previous design was content heavy, with the home page leading with information about Lake District Sky Trails as a business, and not what visitors came to look for; the events.
News articles were listed in a side bar that were rarely updated, immediately creating a negative impression to visitors landing on the site.
The updated site needed to better showcase the range of events as well as clearly indicate brand sponsorships. We also wanted visitors to quickly see the key stats behind each event, showing the entry fee, distance, vertical ascent and terrain type to help them find an event appropriate for their level of running.
Working with Design Constraints
It's not uncommon to be approached with a brief for a website refresh that might target specific sections of a site, as in this case, with a strong emphasis on modernising the home page.
This presents a number of challenges that can make projects like this a little more complicated than might be perceived. You don't necessarily want visitors to notice they've moved from a 'new' part of the site to an 'old' part of the site. Changes to the navigation need to seamlessly integrate with existing pages, and existing content structures in the content management system (CMS) need to be respected to avoid time spent repopulating the site.
Results
The results from a partial design refresh can be well worth it though.
In this case, Race Director Charlie Sproson immediately notice an improvement in online registrations for events for a simple reason.
We'd made it easy for people to view the events on offer and convert their interest to a registration.
Sometimes this can be the result of changes to your product or service. Or your audience matures and look for different features of benefits of a product. Or a fresh pair of eyes can spark new ideas, different conversations and draw focus to potential bottlenecks.