Case Studies
Creative Direction
User Experience Strategy (UX)
User Interface (UI)
Prototyping
Leadership
UX Strategy & Design
Creative Direction, Project Management, UX/UI Strategy & Design, UX Research & Testing, Brand & Style System Creation, Prototyping, Copy Writing/Editing
Krystie Acacia, 2023-2024
The Challenge
Create brand, logo, copy, and website to achieve goals:
- Place Owner as Accomplished Author
- Introduce and Sell Novels and Graphic Novels to Potential Readers, Agents, and Publishers
Still in production, full Case Study coming soon.
UX/UI Strategy & Design
Creative Direction, Project Management, UX/UI Strategy & Design, UX Research & Testing, Brand & Style System Creation, Prototyping, Copy Writing/Editing
To Trade, 2022
The Challenge
Create brand, logo, and website to achieve goals:
- Place owner as seasoned professional
- Provide education through numerous channels
- Ability to capture leads for sales
- Increase engagement of audience to drive purchases
- Phase 2: Community & User Admin
Contributions
- Oversaw creative direction and UX/UI strategy
- Managed project, working with website developer
- See full case study.
Tools: Figma, Adobe Suite (InDesign, Illustrator, Photoshop), and Trello.
The Solution
eCommerce Website Redesign & WordPress Migration
Advocate, Project Management, Website Architecture, eCommerce UI/UX Strategy & Design, UX Research & Testing, SEO, Admin Staff Training
Delaware Nature Society, 2016-2018
The Challenge
Delaware Nature Society’s (DelNature’s) website existed on a limited out-of-box CMS that allowed few editing and interactive capabilities. Hosting was in-house: a security and redundancy risk.
Our challenge was to:
- Improve User Experience for visitors and staff admin users
- Make wide array of services easier to find, prioritized
- Increase profitability and flexibility
- Ensure website security and redundancy
Contributions
- Established the benefits of migrating website to the more customizable, open source WordPress CMS
- Lead the planning and strategic implementation of the move
- Established the benefits of a trusted host for redundancy, security, and other industry standards
The Solution
Blog Migration to Main Website
Advocate, Project Management, Visual Design, UX Strategy & Design, SEO, Admin Staff Training
Delaware Nature Society, 2017, 2022
The Challenge
DelNature’s blog lived on a separate WordPress build and host from the main website. This meant that its traffic did not contribute to the main website. The movement between websites was jarring. Hosting was paid for twice. Both websites needed to but updated when the navigation or look/feel was edited which was time-consuming.
Contributions
- After Main Website Migration to WordPress, redesigned DelNature’s separate WordPress blog to match look/feel and navigation
- Established the benefits of migrating blog to main website
- Oversaw the migration of the blog, working with the talented Yikes team
The Solution
Saved Money
on Hosting
Seemless Connection of
Blog & Main Website
Increased
Stickiness
Increased Time
Efficiency to Update
Rebrand of Acronym for SEO & Usability
Advocate, Project Management, UX Strategy & Research, SEO
Delaware Nature Society, ~2018
Advocated for 50-year-old organization to rebrand acronym DelNature instead of DNS.
The Challenge
DelawareNatureSociety.org is a long domain name. Longer domains are prone to typos and take more effort. They’re also harder to market in print.
Contributions
- Established the benefits of a shorter domain name
- Made case to leadership and then to core staff through presentations and discussions
- Secured DelNature.org domain and assured old and new domains and emails available for use
The Solution
Easier to
Type Length
Easier to
Market Length
Contains Keyword
for SEO
Established
Clear Use Cases
SEO, Google Grants & Webmaster Tools
Advocate, SEO, Google Grants, Webmaster Tools
Delaware Nature Society, 2014 to Present
Set up, improvment, and maintenance of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) of website. Setup and maintenance of Google Grants and Webmaster Tools.
The Challenge
When began at DelNature over a decade ago, their main website didn’t show up on Google results.
Contributions
- Created Google Business listings, bringing their sites onto Google Maps and enhancing search engine placement and details.
- Worked creatively to implemented search optimization practices within a limited out-of-box CMS.
- Set up and maintained Google Analytics, creating reports as needed.
- Advocated for and oversaw Website CMS Migration to a the more versatile WordPress CMS for greater SEO capabilities.
- Leveraged Yoast and UX research to further optimize usability and SEO after migration to WordPress.
- Set up and maintained Google Grants for DelNature including:
- Google Ads (updated monthly with latest ad needs)
- Google Maps
The Solution
High Placement
for Keywords
Showcased in
Search, Maps, Ads
Grants Give
Free Advertising
Analytic Reports
Help Uphold Grants
Increased Usability
for Wider Audience
Hours & Location
Easy to Find
Storytelling to Activate Campaigns
Advocate, Interviewer, Researcher, Writer, Copy Editor
Delaware Nature Society, 2023
Advocated to shared these important stories.
Young Birders Give Back with World Series of Birding Fundraiser
Interviewed students out in the field. Researched and reached out to professionals to confirm facts stated in article. Copyediting.
View the full article:
Welcoming Pride in Natural Spaces
Researched and reported on:
- Connection between time in nature and mental health
- State of mental health in LGBTQ populations
- Importance of clearly welcoming historically-oppressed populations
View the full article:
Equity Implementations
Advocate, DEIJ Committee Member, Photography, UX
Delaware Nature Society, 2014 to Present
Inclusive and Equitable Marketing Practices
2014 to Present
Led an ongoing effort to enhance online and print at DelNature to better service of racial, sexual, and religious minorities and disabled persons.
Assured diverse populations are welcomed through:
- Readability editing leveraging Youst and research
- ADA compliance enhancements
- Photography – online purchase or, most frequently, taking photos myself to assure people see themselves in marketing efforts
- Google Ads location settings
- Limited UX interviews of diverse populations
DEIJ Committee Founding Member
2020 to Present
Became one of the founding members of DelNature’s DEIJ committee with a focus on increasing equity and inclusivity of DelNature. Led creation of new Mission page that better welcomes diverse and underserved communities.
Trello Integration
Advocate, Tech Research, Project Management, Staff Training
Delaware Nature Society, 2022
Advocated for and lead this effort to organize, categorize, and assist management of the DelNature Marketing Department’s design and website-related projects.
Also set up Trello for their DEIJ Committee to organize DEIJ projects and initiatives in an easy-to-use, easy-to-find, always up-to-date application.
The Solution
Projects Easier
to Find & Track
Consistent
Info Collection
Standardized
Stages & Processes
Deadlines & Priority
Items Highlighted
Clear Passoff
Between Members
Ability to Improve
with Addons
Photography Contest for 50th Anniversary Celebration
Advocate, Project Management, Social Media, Visual Design, SEO
Delaware Nature Society, ~2014‘
The Challenge
We were in need of more photography of people in nature at our sites. We also had an upcoming 50th Anniversary and were looking for ways to celebrate.
Contributions
Advocated for and lead this effort with the aim of gathering more nature photos for our collection, engaging the community, and helping keep nature and Delaware Nature Society in the forefront of DelNature’s audience’s minds.
Fulfilling a Need for Photography
Planned for organized gathering of photos through Photo Contest. Made needed categories of “At DelNature Locations”, wildlife, people in nature, and seasons. Made clear to contest participants that images submitted would be used to promote DelNature’s mission with attribution.
Management of Contest
Found and used a contest app that DelNature could use to manage the gathering of contest entries. Oversaw implementation of contest.
Winners’ Photography Show
Advocated for and helped in planning a culminating photo contest winners’ Photography Show on-location at DelNature’s Ashland Nature Center with winners and their friends attending.
The Solution
Special Photo Show
for 50th Anniversary
Audience
Engagement
More Local Images
for Marketing
Calendar Helps
Market Year-round
Want to work together?
I’d love to hear from you!