Week 6: Website-Ing

Hey everyone! Last we checked in, I decided I was going to start building my website for Identity Science on Wix. During the past two weeks, that is exactly what I have been doing! Instead of starting from scratch, I decided it would be most useful to start with a basic template from the Wix platform. I spent a lot of time this week basically experimenting with how they use the website since I am really new to Wix and web design in general. The first struggle I ran into was building the home page. The original Identity Science website was incredibly simplistic and had too much text. I decided that my version of the website should be simpler to navigate for people who know less about cyber security. I decided the most important component of the home page is the navigation bar. To allow for multiple pages of the website to be easily accessible to potential customers, I decided that the best location for the navigation bar would be at the top of the page right underneath the logo. Based on the information provided to me and the previous website, I decided the labels on the navigation bar would be: Who are we? How it Works? Why Identity Science? Request a Demo, Meet the Team, and Contact us. Depending on a further conversation with my external advisor, I will debate whether I want to add a section regarding pricing plans or a book online feature.  

Another thing I realized was important is adding small tag lines or phrases to truly capture the attention of customers who may not know much about cybersecurity. That is why I also began to brainstorm potential interesting lines to be placed big and bold on the home page of the website. Currently, I have come up with “Unlocking the Power of Privacy with Identity Science” but I will check this with my external advisor to confirm I am conveying the right message.  

This week, the biggest competency of the website that I worked on was the “Meet the Team” page, since they already had one on their original website. I incorporated pictures of 8 employees as well as their current job titles, in addition to their past experiences. I also attached a link to their Linkedin accounts, which could be helpful if potential customers wanted to check the credibility of the employees and founders of the company. In this section, I actually came across one of my biggest issues. I found all of the pictures of the employees to be incredibly blurry and they don’t seem to be consistent at all, making the website look kind of messy. In my next meeting with Mr. Mallempati, I will pitch to potentially take photos of all employees against a white background so the website looks more aesthetic. If he refuses, I will likely resize the images and make them smaller so the blur is less noticeable and the website looks better.  

Additionally, this week I worked on the Contact Us page, which I will admit was pretty simple. I basically included all of Identity Science’s information on the page as well as a text box to send emails to Idenity Science simply through the website. This could be incredibly convenient for future customers since they don’t have to go out of their way to reach out to the company. 

But yes, while I had many successes working on the Meet The Team and Contact Us page, I spent most of my time experimenting with Wix and discovering new features. I even hope to go back to both of these pages and add animations and images once I learn how to access them through the website design platform. Additionally, there is some more information I do need to acquire to make the project work. I will request my external advisor for a png of their company logo, so it would be easier for me to use the logo in the building of the website, which is incredibly important since customers typically associate logos with brands. Additionally, I want to use that shape and make a theme out of it and incorporate it all over the website. I also want to ask for Pantone colors, or basically, a color palette to use for the website to make it cohesive and fit with the logo. By next week, I hope to have completed more of the website and I am glad to see my project progress!