The National Trust name is synonymous with stately homes and English gardens, but their remit extends much further and the organisation is charged with the preservation of numerous historic sites and natural environments around Great Britain.

As Senior Experience Architect, I worked within a large team of designers, UXers and developers to create a brand new web platform and cross-platform app for the National Trust. I focused on several key areas of the website, including the Search experience, Property Detail Pages, Events, and the Walking Trails experience.

Each section of the design was defined structurally via a template description diagram and workshopped with the client to establish a clear picture of business needs before user research and design began. The process ran in several 2 week sprints, divided by working sessions with the client in the National Trust head office.

The development of the new platform was completed in-house, and so close collaboration with the technical delivery team was a core part of the project. The design team sat within the daily scrum as the site was built, helping to refine and adjust specific user stories when required.

The final result was a leap forward for the National Trust, unifying data across many systems and creating a brand new and modern face to the brand.

Good stuff: Every part of the user experience is important and an opportunity to create a loveable moment. One fun part of the project saw the team create a series of 404 designs, of which just one made it to the live build.