Creating a dynamic new digital brand presence for Cerberus Capital, one of the world’s leading private investment firms.
Client
Cerberus Capital
Year
2021
Services
Design Strategy
Platform Strategy
UX Consulting
UI Consulting
Platform Development
The Challenge
Designing and developing a content-managed website for a tier-one financial institution presents unique challenges. One of the foremost is balancing the institution’s brand messaging with seamless usability. Cerberus Capital, an established and prestigious brand, requires a website that reflects its stature through design and messaging. This involves carefully integrating brand elements—such as logos, color schemes, and tone of voice—consistently across all pages to maintain brand integrity. At the same time, the site must provide an intuitive user experience, enabling easy navigation and access to essential financial information and services.
Another significant challenge is ensuring compliance with regulatory standards and safeguarding user data, adding layers of complexity to the design and development process. The website must be secure, accessible, and high-performing, while allowing the institution to update content swiftly and efficiently.
The Approach
To tackle the challenge of designing and developing a content-managed website for a tier-one financial institution, we began by aligning branding and user experience from the ground up. Our approach started with comprehensive research to understand the brand’s core values, target audience, business goals, and regulatory requirements. From there, we developed a design system that seamlessly integrates brand elements while prioritizing usability and accessibility.
Our design process included creating wireframes and prototypes to test and refine the user experience. Close collaboration among branding experts, UX/UI designers, and developers was crucial to ensure the website is both visually compelling and easy to navigate. Regular user testing and feedback loops helped identify areas for improvement and ensured that the website met user needs while maintaining brand consistency.
Throughout the process, we upheld robust security measures and compliance with financial regulations to protect user data and maintain trust. The end goal is a website that not only reflects the institution’s prestige but also offers a seamless and intuitive user experience.
Interaction Design
We developed a detailed sitemap aligned with content and platform database matrices. Annotated wireframes were created for all major templates and modular container types. In the process:
- Initial analog sketches were made to quickly capture big ideas and test specific concepts.
- Quick user flows were generated to define key interactions and help envision an overall “design system” that could be refined.
- A comprehensive set of core template wireframes was created for all platforms and iterated upon throughout the UX/UI, prototyping, and testing phases.
- Motion prototypes were developed to convey design energy and direction to both the client and development teams.
- Prototypes were created for testing during the UX/UI phases.
The Results
We crafted a seamless, streamlined experience for both desktop and mobile that elegantly conveys the new Cerberus Capital brand and messaging. Developing the right platform and design strategy for a rapid launch was essential. Website specifications were established early in the process, and an agile approach to design and development was implemented to maximize team efforts.
