Kyle Franz

Creative Brief

Project Summary

Home Grown Lawn is a small, eco-friendly landscaping business that has expanded its customer base in the past through word of mouth advertising but has the opportunity to continue expansion by reaching current and new customers online through a new website. The new website will allow customers the ability to view services offered, see project examples, review commonly asked questions, and contact the organization.

Goals and Objectives

  1. To create a new website for Home Grown Lawn to attract new clients.
  2. To create a new website that provides answers to common customer questions reducing the number of customer calls received daily.
  3. To create a new website that gives customers a way to contact Home Grown Lawn online instead of only by phone.

Audience Profile

This site is intended for use by current and potential customers who want to sign up and learn more about how to create environmentally friendly landscapes. The most common customers are those who live in single family residential homes and are middle to upper class working families who are technologically savvy. Other customers may include but are not limited to town home and condominium homeowner associations (HOAs) and small business parks. Customers of Home Grown Lawn are environmentally conscious and care about creating eco-friendly lawns and landscaping.

Competitive Analysis Summary

Anne Roberts Gardens and Ecoyards Lawn and Landscape are two competitors in the lawn and landscaping industry. Both websites leverage language that is easily understood by users and include slideshow images of completed projects. Anne Roberts Gardens is visually more appealing to users than Ecoyards Lawn and Landscape as the amount of text and imaging is well-balanced and the interactive elements are easy to locate. Both sites include a list of services offered with a drop down menu to linked pages detailing the service, a contact us form, and a blog sharing helpful tips and advice to customers. Anne Roberts Gardens’ website had a better utilization of space, font, size, color, and images than Ecoyards Lawn and Landscape’s website. Anne Roberts Gardens’ website was also easier to navigate based on the simplicity of the design.

To create and maintain a competitive edge, Home Grown Lawn will need to create a website that is well-balanced, uses space effectively, chooses colors that are easy to read but still appealing to the user, utilizes images to attract clients, emphasizes the importance of being eco-friendly and environmentally conscious, and is accessible for all users. Creating a welcoming and easy to navigate home page is an imperative aspect to a successful website. Moreover, the contact page must be concise, visually appealing, and easy to use. The frequently asked questions (FAQ) page will set Home Grown Lawn apart from its competitors as neither company currently has an FAQ page.

Requirements

  1. The website shall have a minimum of six pages: (1) a home page, (2) a services page that outlines the services provided, (3) a projects page that highlights past projects completed, (4) an about page that discusses the organization’s mission, vision, and goals, (5) a frequently asked questions (FAQ) page for customers to seek answers to common questions without having to contact Home Grown Lawn, and (6) a contact page for new and potential customers to contact Home Grown Lawn.
  2. The website shall be fully accessible for people of any ability.
  3. The website shall be written in HTML5.
  4. The website shall have a navigation menu at the top of the page.
  5. The website shall have a search function at the top of the page.
  6. The website shall have a contact form for customers wishing to contact Home Grown Lawn online.
  7. The website shall mitigate security risks by maintaining confidentiality of customer information through adhering to strict security protocols.
  8. The website shall be fully functional and complete in two months.
  9. The website shall not cost more than $3,000.00 to complete.
  10. The website shall be maintained and updated on a monthly basis after completion by an IT specialist.

Measures of Success

  1. The website will be successful if Home Grown Lawn acquires a greater number of new clients as compared to previous years. Home Grown Lawn will be able to determine if there is an increase in new business compared to years past and by how much from gathering data from previous years before the release of the new website. In the first month the website is running, the goal is to gain five new clients. The second month, the goal is to gain ten new clients. By the end of the first year, the goal is to have at least twenty-five new clients.
  2. The website will prove successful if there is a decrease in daily customer calls. Home Grown Lawn can track how many calls are currently handled on a daily basis without the website versus how many calls are handled daily once the website is fully functional. In the first month the website is running, the goal is to have ten fewer calls. In the second month, the goal is to have twenty-five fewer calls. By the end of the first year, the goal is to have one hundred fewer calls.