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Company Description: SuperFamily.com was a pioneer in the community Web site market—easily letting users build family-oriented Web sites with a point and a click. In its heyday, SuperFamily.com was (late 1999, early 2000) named a PC Magazine Top 100 Web Site award-winner—the only such company in their market niche so honored at the time. Based in Albuquerque, NM, the site was built and operated completely by an in-house team.
Role/Projects: Since SuperFamily.com was created by an internal team, the company faced a different set of obstacles than a site built by an outside company. As a start-up, most resources were spent trying to quickly launch new applications and functionality, so the company needed an expert's outside perspective to help manage the user experience—an interesting situation, given that the company's CEO/founder was very involved in the design and marketing of the site. The challenge was to offer a rationale that could convince the CEO why certain aspects of the site could be improved—even if they were contrary to his thinking. Additionally, SuperFamily.com needed help getting its email marketing campaign under way, as well as on-demand copywriting for press releases, radio ads, and the like—all of which I provided in an off-site, freelance capacity.
The Results: Honestly, a mixed bag. I was able to quickly interface with a number of different project teams to improve certain aspects of the company's online presence, including:
- Starting SuperFamily.com's email member marketing campaign with a series of messages designed to highlight features of the site, attract new members, and offer updated news and technical support/advice.
- Improving press releases written by SuperFamily.com's p.r. agency, and offering writing/creative support and positioning for a radio campaign.
- Editing new sections of the site for clarity and ease of use.
- Revamping and rewriting the online help and FAQ sections to cut down on the volume of support emails and enhance the usability of the site.
However, the larger problem of the site's overly busy look/feel and layout was a battle I could not win. Although I was able to create and support a recommendation for a redesign that would better serve both new users and existing members (based on user needs and competitive analysis), the CEO decided to take his own recommendation instead (hey, it happens). Fortunately, we were able to salvage aspects of the redesign, including an easier log-in process and a more detailed sample site (which I wrote).
The Links:
- Online Support: Here's the text (with just some of the layout—this is a java application, so it looks and works a little different on the SuperFamily.com site) for SuperFamily.com's new help section. According to SuperFamily.com Customer Service Manager Mick H., this new help section had "significantly" cut down on incoming support emails. You can also check out some FAQs I wrote for this section (though there's not much more to these than just answering the question).
- PhotoToolbox Help: A separate help section, this content focuses on one of SuperFamily.com's proprietary applications: the PhotoToolbox. Basically, the PhotoToolbox allows users to edit existing photos with just a point and a click—taking advanced image-editing options and making them easy to use. The help content needed to do the same: highlight the usefulness of this advanced functionality, while appealing to an audience with relatively limited technical know-how.
- Original Email Marketing Campaign: Here's a sample of the first few messages that kick-started SuperFamily.com's initial member marketing campaign. The idea was to highlight site functionality, provide proactive support, inform users of SuperFamily.com news, and encourage users to invite family members to join. I was also able to promote the other brands of SuperGroups.com (SuperFamily.com's parent company).
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