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Wines of BC Website Redesign
Role: Digital Specialist, UX Designer, Project Manager
Timeline: 2.5 Years
Tools: Canva, Adobe Photoshop, Google Meet
Platform: Desktop & Mobile
Overview: During my time at Wines of British Columbia, I managed ongoing UX and website optimization projects focused on improving the user experience across desktop and mobile platforms. My responsibilities included managing website updates, refining page design, optimizing navigation menus, updating copy, and ensuring a consistent and engaging user journey that aligned with brand goals.
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I also collaborated closely with two external agencies that supported our design and development work. In this role, I assisted in project management, providing clear UX design feedback, and ensuring deliverables met both functional and aesthetic requirements.
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Through continuous improvements, testing, and user-centered recommendations, our goal was to create a website experience that effectively showcased BC’s wine regions, supported tourism and winery partners, and inspired visitors to explore and choose BC wine.
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Due to company privacy, some details may not be published. Please feel free to reach out with any questions about these projects.
Before
After
Before
After
Method
For the Wines of British Columbia website optimization project, I applied a user-centered approach guided by the Double Diamond process. This framework allowed our team to balance exploration and focus, identifying user needs, analyzing data-driven insights, and refining design solutions that improved both usability and engagement.
The process began with reviewing Google Analytics data to understand user behavior, traffic patterns, and high-exit areas across the site. These insights helped us pinpoint opportunities to improve navigation, mobile responsiveness, and overall site performance. From there, we combined data analysis with qualitative feedback from stakeholders and user testing to ensure our decisions aligned with real user needs and business goals.
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Throughout the project, collaboration played a key role. I worked closely with external design and development partners, providing UX feedback, refining layouts, and testing updates to ensure consistency and accessibility across desktop and mobile experiences. By following the Double Diamond process we were able to iteratively design, evaluate, and implement solutions that elevated the digital experience and supported our mission to inspire visitors to explore BC Wine Country.
Problem Space
The Wines of British Columbia website is a key platform for promoting BC wine sales. Over time, the site’s growing content and complex navigation made it harder for users to find information and engage with the brand. Google Analytics revealed high exit rates on key pages and usability issues on mobile. The challenge was to create a more intuitive, visually engaging, and responsive website that better reflected the brand and supported users in discovering BC wine.
of 100% BC VQA Wines
Increase Sales
User Interviews
To better understand how users interact with the Wines of British Columbia website, we conducted interviews primarily with internal team members, gathered feedback from partner wineries, and consulted the external design and development agencies supporting the project.
Our goal was to identify pain points, motivations, and behaviors related to navigating the site, finding information, and engaging with content. Insights from these conversations helped us understand what users found confusing or cumbersome, what content resonated most, and where improvements could enhance the overall experience.
These interviews informed our design decisions, ensuring that updates to the site, including navigation, copy, and visual elements, addressed real user needs. By combining internal knowledge, winery perspectives, and external expertise, we were able to create a website experience that better supports visitors, highlights BC wine regions, and strengthens the connection between users and the brand.
Audiences
Photo Credit: Wines of BC
Our user research focused on Wines of British Columbia’s three key audiences: passionate advocates, engaged explorers, and social samplers. Through data analysis and feedback from these groups, we found that while users were eager to learn about BC wineries and plan visits, many struggled to navigate the site efficiently or locate specific information. These insights informed our persona development and guided design decisions to create a website that feels intuitive, visually engaging, and aligned with each audience’s motivations and behaviors.
Due to company privacy, detailed audience information cannot be shared. Please feel free to reach out with any questions about this project.
How Might We...
create a more intuitive and inspiring website experience that helps users explore BC wine regions, discover wineries, and feel motivated to purchase BC wine?
User Stories & Epics
Based on our key audiences of passionate advocates, engaged explorers, and social samplers, we developed user stories focused on improving navigation and discovery. Our main epic centered on creating a detailed winery finder with filters for region, amenities, offerings, and wine styles. Additional epics aimed to enhance mobile usability and inspire exploration to drive deeper engagement and wine sales.
Winery Information
Special Events
Food Options at Wineries
UI Inspiration
Our website updates included both internal initiatives and collaborations with external partners. Internally, I continually reviewed tourism and wine organization websites from around the world, including Wines of New Zealand, to identify design and UX opportunities that could enhance our digital experience.
Externally, we partnered with the company behind Banff’s Trip Planner to design a custom version for our own site, integrating interactive tools that aligned with our brand and user goals.
Wireframes
After gathering UI inspiration, I sketched multiple layout concepts for key website pages and digital features, including the April is BC Wine Month page shown below. Our team reviewed the designs collaboratively, using feedback and internal voting to identify the strongest elements. One of our main focuses was creating scannable sections that helped wineries quickly understand the value of participating in the initiative. Once our sketches were finalized, we developed wireframes to define the structure and flow of the design.
Sketch
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Wireframe
Usability Testing
The website redesign process involved collaboration between our internal team of six and several external partners. To refine the user experience, we conducted employee testing sessions to gather feedback on navigation, design clarity, and usability. The feedback emphasized the need for improved visual hierarchy, clearer calls to action, and adjustments to content length in certain sections. While some recommendations were implemented, others were adapted to align with organizational priorities and stakeholder preferences.
Hi-Fi Mockup
Key Learnings
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Maintain strong brand consistency, even when transitioning from legacy elements to new design components.
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Leverage the expertise of team members to better understand programs, offerings, and project needs.
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Balance stakeholder priorities with user needs by actively listening and clearly communicating design decisions.
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Use shared project management tools to streamline collaboration with external partners and reduce reliance on email communication.
Measuring Success
To evaluate the success of Wines of BC website redesign, we will use the following metrics:
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Overall increase in website traffic, number of visitors, and other key Google Analytics.
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Positive feedback from users, wineries, and other stakeholders regarding usability and design improvements.
Future Considerations
The continued success of the Wines of BC website depends on ongoing collaboration between internal teams, winery partners, and external developers to ensure the platform remains user-focused and aligned with industry needs. As digital trends evolve, incorporating user feedback and analytics insights will be key to enhancing usability, accessibility, and overall performance.
Future updates should also prioritize maintaining brand consistency while adapting to new technologies and tourism marketing opportunities. Regular testing with both consumers and industry stakeholders will help identify emerging needs and ensure the site continues to effectively showcase BC wine and support the region’s growth.
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