Sutton Bank Website Design

Sutton Bank is based in Ohio and they were in need a new design that would better drive their brand and bring in more deposits. Since, being in business since 1878 they are very well known in northwest Ohio and they have a strong core group of customers.

The Challenge

There were quite a few things that Sutton Bank was wanting to be able to resolve with their new website design. These would include such things as:

• To attract more millennials and while not alienating their current customer base

• Sutton Bank wanted to update their branding but, keep their message “Old-Fashioned Innovation” represented in their site

• They wanted to get across that they are: traditional, creative, entrepreneurial, profitable and they have expertise in what they do

• The design had to be a hybrid of a modern UI and more of a traditional UI, which would align with their tag line “Old Fashion Innovation”

The Solution

As the lead designer on this design, I wanted to really dive into the client meeting notes to gain the customers knowledge and research their current website. I needed to identify the problems as a whole and that way I could better access’s the best way to come up with a solution their problem. Also, I needed to take into account the sitemap for customer and what was most important to them verses the least important to them. The site map included certain hierarchy such as:

• Branding

• Loan placement on the website

• Financial education placement

The New Design

After doing the research on the old site and the notes from the customer meetings, I took that knowledge and made an assortment of wireframes to help flush out my ideas. I also, took into account UX principles of a layout and what would be easy for a user to navigate and what are they use to seeing. Taking special care to address the customers pain points and what they needed in order to solve their problem.

I was able to add a little more playfulness and interactivity without making it confusing for the end user, while staying in brand. In the below image you can see where I added a rollover copy function to the agriculture and business loans sections.

Conclusion

I presented the design to the customer and the site was highly received; the client was very pleased that the site answered their concerns. By listening and addressing the pain points and the needs of Sutton Bank, I was able to successfully design an attractive, updated and highly functional homepage design. 

My responsibilities also consisted of working with our developers and copywriters in making any necessary tweaks to the design throughout the process and working with them to bring the look into the downstream pages to stay consistent. 

Copy on website: Gabe Trevino and Nick Marcotte   
Front End Developer: Rachel Chay