Blog

My mom has always been an excellent cook. We rarely went without a home-cooked meal, however, I distinctly remember the times my family would stop by Back Yard Burgers (BYB) and enjoy a Hawaiian Chicken Sandwich™, or a tasty burger. Needless to say, when they came to Paramore|Redd and told us they needed to reinvent themselves, of course I was up for the challenge!

They’ve been around since 1988, so we knew there was already a foundation to work from. The idea was not to completely change the already successful brand, but to enhance it. They needed a stronger overall presence and wanted to give the consumers more “meat” - if you will.

The structure of their old site wasn’t bad: logo and main nav at the top, “hero” image area, and three “call-outs” on the homepage. Even the Menu page used the vertical left-side navigation which often makes for good usability.

Although Back Yard Burgers did a number of things right, we noticed several areas that could use improvement:

• Overall design didn’t portray a consistent brand
• Food wasn’t displayed to its full advantage
• No food descriptions or brand copy to give BYB a voice
• No way to search nearest restaurant locations

Research, Mood Boards, & Functional Specs

P|R combined our experience and research on what makes a successful restaurant site/brand to create a mood board. We searched for images, experimented with colors/design styles to enhance the existing BYB logo, and chose font treatments. This prep work allowed us to land on a solid direction for the overall look and feel of the new BYB site.

The site needed to accomplish some very specific goals for the initial launch. It needed to promote the food first and foremost. Secondly, customers needed to be able to find current promotions, restaurant locations, and franchising. Other items that needed attention include eClub, social media, catering, and company information. With these goals in mind, our next step was to figure out a good structure for the site.

Working closely with the client, we created a site map and wireframe/functional spec document. Figuring out the basic structure helped us focus on the functionality of the site. This ultimately helped us to determine where/what the “callouts” needed to be and how users would interact.

Sketches & Design Comps

My college professor (Barry Buxkamper) always preached about two things in design:
1. K.I.S.S. (Keep It Simple Stupid)
2. Always start with pen and paper. (It’s amazing how a simple sketch can be so helpful.)

Once we all agreed on the direction for the site structure, we moved into Photoshop to flesh out the design. This step in our process allows us to move forward with confidence knowing that all the client’s concerns are discussed and solved on the front end of the project.

All A’board!

When it came time to present the final design to the client, there were no surprises. Everyone was already on board and knew the direction we were taking. We were happy. The client was happy. More importantly, Back Yard Burgers has a functional and resourceful site that stays true to the brand roots that got the company where it is today.

Now, without further ado, please enjoy the tasty new BackYardBurgers.com!

• 
• Del.icio.us
• Digg
• StumbleUpon
• TwitThis