RICOM, an online seller of refurbished and new IT equipment, approached me with the idea of “re-skinning” their existing web site. I’m always skeptical when clients ask me to re-skin an existing site or application. Sometimes it’s an effort to consciously or unconsciously cover up more serious design problems. Re-skinning a broken design to make a better product is a bit like buying new running shoes so you can run faster. While good visual design is an important element in successful user experiences, it can’t hide more critical problems with navigation, page flows, feature set and a myriad of other issues that might cause a user to leave the site or shelf an application.

RICOM wanted a re-skin, what they got back was a new look and feel AND an online marketing strategy with a clear checkout process. Especially for e-commerce, it’s critical that all the tools are in place to ensure the visitor understands the business from the homepage, knows where to start, has a clear view of their shopping cart, can easily checkout and has support at their fingertips.

Not only did I help them accomplish all those, I also had fun taking a little-known recycle program RICOM had and turned it into a green initiative further presenting the RICOM brand as a smart choice for IT departments.