Dorval AM : Website redesign
Dorval, a leader in financial portfolio management, wanted to give their website a fresh update to boost performance and better reflect their evolving brand. Over the past ten years, while their values, positioning, and messaging have changed, the website hadn’t kept up. To align with their new strategy and better connect with today’s market, Dorval AM turned to Digital4Better to create a modern website that truly represents who they are now.
Corporate website
Finance
2021
Digital4better client
4 (2 Designers)
Challenge
The finance sector, especially portfolio management, relies heavily on showcasing a company’s expertise. Users want clear insights into Dorval AM’s positioning in the financial markets, but the current site makes it difficult to follow the latest news and expert analysis. This is a crucial factor in maintaining trust between investors and Dorval AM.
Additionally, the site's structure creates confusion for visitors from the moment they arrive. Before they can explore Dorval’s history and values, they are required to fill in their profile just to access the content, which detracts from the user experience.
Results
The redesigned website led to increased user retention and a noticeable reduction in bounce rates. This improvement was largely due to the repositioning of the profile tunnel and the revamped information architecture, which made it easier for users to navigate and better understand Dorval's offerings. Additionally, our SEO enhancements helped Dorval achieve higher rankings on search engines within a few months. The new visual identity also received positive feedback both on social media and indirectly from customers, further validating the success of the redesign.
Process
Research & Analysis: We conducted user interviews and focus groups with users and stakeholders to understand the pain points and user needs. We also studied competitor apps and industry trends to gather insights before redesigning the website and digital branding.
Architecture & SEO : Based on the research, we completely restructured the website's navigation and content, prioritizing features and information according to user needs. We also restructured the website with SEO in mind as the ranking performances needed to be optimized
Wireframes & Mockups: We designed low-fidelity wireframes to visualize the new structure, layout and navigation. We then built a high-fidelity accessible mockups with guidelines for the developers to integrate.
Visual Design & Style Guide: We digitalized the logo and key branding visual assets for a more modern look. We introduced new typography and iconography and elements. We also created a style guide to maintain design consistency in future updates.
Conclusion
Dorval AM was a great opportunity to dive deep into the specific design patterns used in the finance sector. It was also rewarding to create a website that not only had a low environmental impact but was fully accessible, all while maintaining a premium brand positioning—something that many competitors might be hesitant to embrace. This experience highlighted the balance between sustainability, accessibility, and high-end design.