The Situation
Smallwood had decades of experience, an impressive portfolio and strong client relationships, but its website was not fully communicating what made the firm valuable. Research showed clients saw Smallwood as collaborative, responsive and easy to work with, while the site needed to make project experience, capabilities, team expertise and the relationships behind the work easier to understand.
Our Approach
Instead of designing around internal preferences, we studied how Smallwood’s audiences actually select a design partner. Client interviews, competitive research, SEO analysis and audience journeys informed the site architecture, navigation, project filtering, team profiles and content hierarchy, while helping us bring the human qualities behind Smallwood’s work more prominently into the experience.
Services
BRAND DEFINITION
BRAND STRATEGY
BRAND POSITIONING
MESSAGING
WEBSITE
Solution
The redesigned site makes Smallwood’s work, expertise and people easier to explore. Simplified navigation organizes content around services, projects, people and the firm, while richer project pages connect relevant markets, locations and team members. Expanded profiles and stronger storytelling create a more intuitive experience that reflects Smallwood as both accomplished designers and trusted collaborative partners.
An architecture firm’s website naturally needs to showcase great work, but beautiful project photography alone doesn’t explain why someone should choose the people behind it. Our opportunity was to design the experience around how clients actually make that decision, making Smallwood’s expertise easier to find while giving its relationships, responsiveness and collaborative approach a much larger role in the story.
