RITA LAB
UX/UI
2024
Introduction
What
Redesigned the digital community experience that supports those coming up in tech. Reducing cognitive load and delivering an engaging visual experience, aiming to reduce drop-offs.
Who
Rita Lab, a startup supporting early-career tech professionals. Worked in collaboration with product, engineering, research teams, and branding.
Why
The challenge with Rita Lab’s website was twofold: it no longer reflected the organization’s updated brand, and it placed too much cognitive load on users. The redesign addressed these gaps by introducing a more intuitive structure and a visual language that matched the refreshed brand. While we didn’t measure success through metrics, the qualitative outcome was clear—users were met with a smoother, more cohesive journey that better represented Rita Lab’s vision.
Responsibilities
Context & Challenges
Background
Rita Group is a young startup with a mission to empower individuals entering or pivoting into tech. The Rita Lab website redesign was motivated by two key needs: to reflect the organization’s refreshed brand identity and to create a more intuitive, engaging user experience.
Goal
Align with brand: Update the website to showcase Rita Lab’s refreshed identity and visual language
Simplify the journey: Streamline navigation and reduce cognitive load so users can access information quickly
Highlight core features: Elevate mentor session booking as a central function of the site
Drive engagement: Encourage users to sign up for the newsletter and join the Discord community
Build for growth: Establish a scalable, user-centered foundation to support future updates
Problem
Complex navigation: Too many steps and clicks were required to reach important information
Hidden core feature: Mentor session booking — a key offering — wasn’t prominently surfaced or easy to access
Outdated identity: The visual design no longer reflected the refreshed brand, leading to inconsistency and a dated experience
Discovery & Research
Approach
Conducted user surveys to gather feedback on pain points and expectations
Performed competitive analysis of other community platforms to compare structures and flows
Identified best practices in usability, communication, and accessibility
Positioned Rita Lab more clearly within the community space by combining insights from both research streams
Insights
What we heard:
The site’s flow felt complicated, with too many steps to reach important information
Mentor session booking was hard to find and not clearly highlighted
Blog and resource content was difficult to search and discover
Other community-based platforms were offering simpler navigation and stronger accessibility
What it means:
Optimize information architecture: Create a clearer structure, improve site maps, and introduce easy exit points to enhance usability
Elevate key offerings: Make mentor session booking more visible and accessible as a core feature
Improve content discoverability: Enhance search functionality and filtering within blog and resource content
Modernize visuals: Apply the refreshed brand identity consistently to build trust and engagement
Adopt best practices: Incorporate competitive insights around usability, accessibility, and communication
Define
Objective
Simplify the Rita Lab website to reflect the refreshed brand, improve usability, and make key features like mentor session booking and resource discovery, easier to access.
Success Criteria
A more intuitive information architecture that reduces unnecessary steps
Clear visibility of mentor session booking as a core offering
Improved discoverability and search within blog and resource content
Consistent application of the updated brand identity across the site
Approach
Focused on reworking the site structure, strengthening visual hierarchy, and streamlining user flows to reduce cognitive load. Prioritized surfacing high-value actions while ensuring the design felt modern, cohesive, and aligned with Rita Lab’s evolving brand.
Design Exploration
Early Ideas & Concepts
Stacked cards: Explored a scrolling homepage where each section appeared as a full-height card, creating a focused, immersive experience
Connect page hierarchy: Raised the visibility of mentor booking by reducing one click, though it was still positioned lower on the page; the hero initially highlighted the Discord community
Navigation: Designed a floating rounded navigation bar for quick, consistent access across the site
Visual direction: Applied refreshed brand themes — space, dark mode, futuristic and airy — with colored orbs and gradients to create depth and immersion
Homepage strategy: Began with a minimalist approach, then evolved into a layout that introduced each key touchpoint directly on the homepage, allowing users to understand Rita Lab at a glance without excessive clicks
Team introduction: Considered team member cards and slides to give visitors a sense of the people behind the organization
Mission video: Added a homepage hero video to communicate Rita Lab’s mission in an immediate and engaging way
Mentor booking: Shifted the booking process onto the website itself. Previously, users had to leave the site with no context about mentors. By introducing mentor profile cards with background information, we aimed to build trust, reduce drop-off, and encourage more bookings
Sketches & Iterations
Started with grayscale wireframes, which helped us validate structure and hierarchy before visual Polish.
Key Decisions
Design Tradeoffs
Through multiple iterations and stakeholder feedback, we weighed visual detail against usability. The challenge was to create a space-inspired, airy feel without overwhelming users. Questions we asked included: How many graphic elements are too many? Should depth come from sharp or blurred forms? How can a flat interface still feel dimensional?
What We Prioritized
Connection page: Originally highlighted Discord in the hero section, but we elevated mentor profile cards instead. Surfacing mentors early built trust and encouraged both bookings and eventual community participation.
Homepage: Added touchpoints for each major section, giving users an immediate overview without forcing excessive navigation.
Call to action: Placed newsletter sign-up and Discord join prompts across the site to drive consistent community growth.
Events: Merged “Events” and “Seminars” into a single page with filters. This reduced confusion and eliminated unnecessary decision-making for users.
Footer strategy: Included full navigation links to reinforce paths, repeat calls to action, and keep community sign-ups accessible.
Why It Mattered
While one of our goals was to reduce cognitive load by removing unnecessary information, we also replaced that space with more meaningful content to advance the site’s objectives. The intention was clear: a simplified, structured website would encourage users to sign up for the newsletter, book mentor sessions, and join the Discord community. Although we don’t have quantitative data to measure the outcome, this framing guided our decisions and shaped the redesign’s impact.
Summary
These decisions reflect a balance between visual expression and usability, ensuring the site felt immersive while keeping the user journey simple, intuitive, and aligned with Rita Lab’s core goals.
Design Solution
Overview
The final redesign delivered a simplified user journey with clear navigation and key features surfaced upfront. The new Connect page highlights mentor profile cards, giving users context and building trust before booking. The site map was streamlined by consolidating overlapping pages like Events and Seminars into a single Events hub. Throughout the site, the refreshed brand identity is reflected in a light, airy interface where typography and content take center stage.
Mentor booking: Simplified the process to reduce friction and encourage sign-ups
Content clarity: Consolidated navigation and added touchpoints to help users understand Rita Lab at a glance
Community growth: Reinforced calls to action for newsletter sign-ups and Discord participation across the site
Screens & Components
Responsive mentor profile cards with background details and booking links
Floating rounded navigation bar to follow the light and airy updated brand
Homepage touchpoints summarizing all major sections in one scrollable view
Events page with filter options to explore different types of activities in one place
System & Visuals
Applied Rita Lab’s updated design system with consistent typography, color gradients, and orb-like graphic elements
Embraced dark mode and space-inspired themes to create depth and immersion without visual clutter
Balanced futuristic brand elements with clean layouts that prioritize clarity, accessibility, and readability
Reflections
What I Learned
Iterating quickly in Figma with stakeholder feedback kept the project moving and aligned
Breaking down the project into smaller daily tasks made collaboration across design and development smoother
Close collaboration with the brand team reinforced how visual identity and usability must work hand in hand
What I’d Improve
Conduct additional usability testing with a broader set of users to validate design decisions
Establish clearer success metrics early on to better measure the impact of the redesign
Explore more variations of mentor booking flows to further reduce drop-off points