Davis Racing Dragons
Website link coming soon…
Overview
Dragon Boat at UC Davis (or Davis Racing Dragons/DRD) is a student-run collegiate-level dragon boat team. Originally established in 2004, DRD's mission "is to create a fun, welcoming community of college paddlers through teamwork and striving for competitive excellence on the water." I served as Director of Marketing for almost 4 years.
We had built a very basic website for the team using Google Sites in 2021. As the team grew, we had become much more prominent in the dragon boat community, and were looking to increase our recruitment efforts as well. I noticed a growing need to redesign the website to better represent the current DRD.
NOTE: Dragon boat is a team-based paddling sport!
Goal
Redesign the website to improve advertisement to prospective members, better serve current members, and reflect the goals of the organization.
My Role
Product Designer & Director of Marketing
Team
1 Designer, 1 Developer
Timeline
July 2024 - Oct 2025
Redesign Preview
Research
Click here to read through the entire research brief.
Research Goals
Before beginning any research, it was important that I set a few goals to help maintain focus throughout the entire project.
Goals when visiting the website (members and prospective)
Pros and cons with current website (functionality and content)
Navigation of site, and searching for specific content
How well does the current site represent the team and how can we improve that?
Research Methods & Insights
Here are the key takeaways from each research method I used. Click here to see my full analysis.
Survey | Competitive Analysis | User Personas |
|---|---|---|
The biggest reason members stay on the team is because of the welcoming environment and community that DRD offers. | Strong use of media and accessible info/contacts are attractive to prospective members. | Website must serve two main purposes: attract prospective members, and help current members advertise the team. |
Define
From the research, I was able to create a defined goal to help direct the rest of the project.
Create a website that serves both prospective and current members in their individual goals by streamlining the way these visitors find information about the team, while also emphasizing the welcoming environment DRD has to offer.
Ideation/Lo-fi
Click here to view the entire information architecture outline.
Here were the main pages I outlined. I wanted each page to highlight a major category of information visitors may want to find.
Home | About | Events | Contact | Join |
Here are a few wireframes of the pages. I kept the layouts relatively simple to accommodate for developer capabilities.
Mid-fi
Quick view of a few of the mid-fi pages.
Hi-fi
Design System
I based the design system on the existing branding of the team to maintain consistency.
Final Screens
Original Davis Racing Dragons Website
Davis Racing Dragons Website Redesign
Throughout the designing process, I kept asking myself "What would I want to see/know if I was interested in joining DRD?" This line of questioning guided each choice I made. I wanted each page to highlight a major category of information visitors may want to find.
For example, the layout of the "Home" page is supposed to follow along with what a prospective member is thinking when they visit our website. The banner will play automatically play a promotional video for an initial hook. Then they may wonder what dragon boat even is, then want to learn more about the team. Once they've decided the sport and team look fun, someone new might be worried about if they need experience to join. Then they may be curious about what else the team has to offer.
While thinking like a prospective member, I also found that we lacked a clear onboarding process that was outlined in a centralized place. I wanted to add a "Join" page to serve this purpose. Before, new members would have to wait for a board member to help them complete all the steps of onboarding. Now, they are able to complete most of the process themselves, and see what to expect next.
Development
I worked alongside a DRD alumni (Alex Tran), who has a background in CS. Before I began hi-fi designs, we communicated about the feasibility of certain features and design choices. He also brought up any concerns he had regarding security and optimization.
Click here to view Alex's GitHub for the website.
Knowing that this website would be passed onto the future generations of DRD board (who don't necessarily have the experience we do), Alex and I also had conversations about keeping the design and development simple enough for others to make small edits. I plan to meet with our current marketing committee to ensure they all know how to update the website's info when needed!
Reflection
Challenges
Making decisions as the only designer
Considering what would benefit the team long-term
Next Steps
Add an "Our Legacy" section
Add anecdotes/quotes from members
Feature more videos and picture galleries
Personal Reflection
This was a really important project for me in many ways. I've been becoming a more confident designer, and I kind of used this redesign as way to externally validate what I knew I was capable of (and I did it all on my own, too!)
This was definitely a bit of a passion project as well. I saw the need for a website that better reflected how far DRD has come, and took the opportunity! I took on this redesign in my last year of college, with the intentions of it being a sort of farewell gift to this team I care so much about.
Admittedly, I was incredibly on and off while working on the website. I nonetheless saw it to the end, and put all my thought and care into the final product. I wanted to make something that would not only serve the visitors, but also serve the team and board for years to come.