Bendianmusic.com

Meet Gregg Bendian, a renowned progressive rock drummer, and the creator of The Progcast.

The Challenge

Greggs's challenges include:
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1 - Directing his fans to his webpage for lessons
2 - Having a portfolio to showcase his discography

Discovery

Gregg is a Professional Musician and Professor in New Jersey. He came to me because he has a youtube following that he would like to direct to a website for lessons and other materials. I started by collecting information from his youtube analytics, which gave me a good foundation to base my designs off of.

Gregg interviewing a guest for this channel "The Progcast"

Aesthetic & Brand

Because Gregg already has a following, I thought it was vital to capture his youtube aesthetic, and transfer it to his website. I accomplished this task by considering the tone and attitude of his channel. Although visually it is a simple podcast, the attitude it conveys is pure rock n’ roll, and I wanted to capture that for his website.

Gregg has a rock n' roll aesthetic that I wanted to incorporate into his brand.

“How can we get the users to make the trip from yt video to url?”

UX

Because Gregg had a youtube following, I had to find empathy with his typical visitor.

For instance: If they are fans of his, they are interesting in learning about music. Which means that after they watch a video on his channel, the easiest access point would to be to put the website url in the video summary.

From there they can learn about what he offers, and give them a convenient way to contact him.

Ideating for the User Journey.

More than the website

After completing Gregg’s new website, I found that the cool visual aesthetic we had created was nowhere to be found on his other social platforms.

The design system I had created for his website came in handy to create cohesion throughout his perception. Creating assets for his various social platforms made turned Greggs podcast, into a brand.

Final landing page design.

Secondary research paired with Primary research allows me to create relatable experiences.

Research

After working a few projects I've learned that the design process is iterative.

Even after I had the foundations of the website, I still had to fill in the holes with constant research.

In one of my rounds of research, I discovered the average ages for certain payment applications. This information helped me design intelligently, rather than put a payment system in that his audience doesn't use.

Conclusion

Above all else, I strive to be empathetic to the user. Especially when they are in a loud, dark, and distracting music venue. The last thing they want to do is fumble around a clunky website that distracts them from the concert.
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Using a design that considered the experience of the user including the lighting, the sound, and the heuristics of the user helped them tip faster, and stay engaged with Banny irl.