Minnesota Monthly Redesign
Homepage redesign and restructuring of navigation
The Minnesota Monthly is an iconic Minnesota-based publication. For over five decades the magazine has highlighted the best Minnesota has to offer: travel, health, food, arts & entertainment. The publication embodies the spirit of Minnesota while celebrating the best arts, entertainment, food, culture, philanthropy, sports, and lives of our community.
OUR GOAL
Create a clear content hierarchy and simplify existing navigation options.
HOW MIGHT WE?
Improve the user experience of the Minnesota Monthly website to give users a more efficient way to navigate and find information throughout the site.
We analyzed 3 local magazines (Mpls/St. Paul Magazine, Twin Cities Business and StartTribune) within similar topics and editorial pieces offered. After grading each homepage on design, content and layout, we found that taking a minimalist approach and highlighting the content would be our objective. We planned on creating a layout that would not crowd the content or images but seamlessly blend from one topic to another.
1.Experience - Do you or have you ever searched for online directories, events, or publications? What was that experience like?Have you ever read or encountered the Minnesota Monthly’s website or publication?
2.Navigation - Tell us about your experience visiting the Minnesota Monthly website? How do you feel when exploring this website?
3.Growth - Are there any areas of growth in content or design for this website? If you were to change one thing about this website what would you improve?
Most users felt confused and overwhelmed with the navigation while citing that the information on the homepage was comprehensive.
USER STATISTICS
When drawing on aesthetics for the final prototype we were guided by the MIA’s recent branding update. To mimic these changes a minimalist design approch was utilized. We wanted the app UI to remain black and white to allow the art to be showcaseded throughout the app.
ORIGINAL WEBSITE NAVIGATION
1.Upper header from the original website navigation
2.Lower header from the original website navigation
3.Footer from the original website navigation
4.Revised site header and footer
REVISED HEADER
Once a competitive analysis, user research and revised site map was completed we then created a moodboard and style guide for the website. The overall feel of the Minnesota Monthly website was curated to be approachable and friendly, intentionally stepping away from the information heavy and busyness of their previous structure and homepage.