TechStreet—formerly a division of Thomson Reuters—provides digital access to over 500,000 engineering and technical standards from over 350 publishers. Over a period of two years, they partnered with The Understanding Group to redesign their websites for individual purchases and enterprise team subscriptions.

The Problem: Overly Complicated Digital Properties

After years of steady growth via incremental changes to its eCommerce websites, TechStreet’s digital properties had grown overly complicated; it was time to simplify. TUG partnered with the internal product and development team to redesign the site. 

User interviews and analysis of customer service logs informed new personas that aligned the team on a clear definition of success. The rebuilt site emphasized that TechStreet is a store: a place to browse, search, and purchase documents. The revised site was more straightforward for new users to engage with while remaining navigable for repeat customers. 

This relaunched site led to a 12% increase in purchases and a 10% year-over-year revenue increase. Organic traffic also increased as a direct result of the improved site architecture. TechStreet did not create any new content in the process, yet the reorganization helped Google searchers find what had always been there.

The Solution: Simplified and Expanded Subscription Portal

After redesigning the consumer-facing eCommerce website, TUG redesigned the interface of TechStreet’s enterprise subscription site. This destination had offered enterprise team subscriptions for over a decade, and its subscription portal needed a thoughtful refresh. Customers needed a simple process to get, find, and choose their documents quickly. Specifically, TechStreet sought to:

• Serve and delight existing subscribers by better supporting their needs and requests.

• Differentiate TechStreet’s subscription service through ease of use and simplicity.

How We Succeeded: UX-Driven Information Architecture

TUG provided the blueprints and plans to improve the subscription site’s flow and incorporate new features without adding complexity. We collaborated with TechStreet’s development, QA, and product management teams to provide a user-experience–driven information architecture. Together, we reviewed customer service data, drew insights from web analytics, and listened to subscription customers. Enterprise personas and scenarios informed comprehensive blueprints for the redesign: site structure and page-level wireframes.

Epilogue

TechStreet launched its site update in the spring of 2012 and saw quick improvements in many website and business metrics. The new design included a dashboard (pictured) and achieved the two goals established for the project: 

Goal 1: Serve and delight existing subscribers—the new site coaxed subscribers to explore more and improved site metrics:

• 27% increased visits

• 100% increase in page views

• 32% reduction in the bounce rate

Goal 2: Differentiate TechStreet’s subscription service through ease-of-use and simplicity—the new site resulted in a combination of:

• Reduced time-on-page as searchers found what they needed faster

• 26% increase in sales