WEBSITE TEMPLATES
How I design for scale and not just users
Design Thinking
3 months
Figma
MY ROLE
I designed and launched a new templated website product within a CRM platform. Due to confidentiality, visuals are limited, but this case study focuses on the problem, decisions, and outcomes. I worked cross-functionally with PM, developers, business development, client teams, and C-suite stakeholders.
THE BACKGROUND
The company was involved in a wide range of industries and had an existing process to create a website for the end clients. They needed this process to be converted into a new product offering.
THE CHALLENGE
The websites weren’t integrated seamlessly; they were considerably slow to set up, had inconsistent design throughout, and relied on developers solely. The existing process had each website treated as a custom project.
THE SOLUTION
The solution was a set of 6 templated websites that reduced launch times from weeks to days. The solution improved consistency across industries, reduced developer reliance, and gave business stakeholders confidence that their sites were accessible and professional by default.
THE RESEARCH
INTERNAL DISCOVERY
WORKSHOPS
COMPETITIVE COMPARATIVE
OPPORTUNITIES FOUND
For the Business
1 | Faster setup times (multi-week to days)
2 | Consistent design quality
3 | A scalable solution that was efficient to maintain
4 | Solution that aligned with the company's identity
For The End-Clients
5 | Professional-looking website without tech knowledge
6 | A range of design options flexible to reflect their own brand identity
7 | A website that integrates with the CRM
USER GROUPS
TWO KEY GROUPS
Needs a professional website without design or technical skills.
BUSINESS STAKEHOLDERS
(using the CRM)
Needs accessible, clear, responsive experience across devices.
END-USERS
(of the websites)
Accessibility came up early as the key stakeholders of the end-clients wanted to be confident that their websites worked for all customers. This was a non-negotiable requirement due to the industries involved, including public, electoral, and membership sectors. Understanding this meant WCAG considerations were baked into the system rules, not applied later at the screen level.
THE PROBLEM STATEMENT
The key stakeholders using our CRM need an accessible, easy-to-launch website template that supports brand consistency and reduces reliance on technical support.
To prioritise features, I used an Impact vs Effort matrix across four key industries.
Given timeline constraints, we led with the templates' core pages:
• Home
• About
• Contact
• Offering / Information
DESIGN PROCESS
I collaborated daily with developers throughout fidelities. The early collaboration meant the modular block system translated cleanly into Umbraco without rework.
Low-Fi
1 | Structure, hierarchy, and content prioritisation
2 | Workshopped with stakeholders for alignment
Mid-Fi
1 | Refined navigation and content flow
2 | Validated layout logic and modular behaviour
High-Fi
1 | Integrated CRM branding
2 | Finalised accessibility compliance
An important decision was to limit optionality.
Too much flexibility would have slowed down setup and introduced inconsistency. So I constrained things like block layout behaviours and typography scaling within predefined parameters.
Design Studio
Design & Iteration
Workshop
Design & Iteration
Workshop
MVP
Prototyping
ACCESSIBILITY
Accessibility was embedded, not layered on later.
• WCAG compliance integrated into typography and colour systems
• Accessible navigation patterns
• Scalable font logic
• Responsive hierarchy
• Consistent component behaviour
TESTING
Testing occurred in two phases
Internal Validation
Measured the speed of setup and usability for account managers
Dark Launch
Released to low-traffic sites and efficiently improved missed issues
FINAL SOLUTION
The final product was a set of six scalable, modular website templates fully integrated within the CRM platform. I delivered these templates in Umbraco, designed to support multiple industries while maintaining a consistent design language and embedded accessibility standards. Each template was built using reusable blocks, allowing account managers to customise within, without compromising structure, usability, or brand integrity.
The impact of this project was immediate, with website launch timelines reduced from multi-week to only a few days. With the process refining and improving over time, it's a clear pathway to same-day deployment. Account managers were able to independently create professional, accessible websites without relying on devs or the design team, significantly reducing reliance on multi-team and using up avoidable resources.
From a user perspective, the templates provided clear navigation, responsive layouts, and accessible design patterns that worked seamlessly across devices. Accessibility was not treated as a checklist at the end of the process but embedded into the system itself, reducing compliance risk and ensuring inclusivity across diverse audiences.
Key Results
1 | Launch time reduced from weeks to days
2 | Account managers required minimal developer input
3 | Stakeholders reported increased confidence in professionalism
4 | End-users found navigation intuitive and accessible
To support and ensure long-term scalability, I created documentation for devs, designers, and the client teams to ensuring the system could be maintained, extended, and iterated on without losing consistency. The result was not just a set of templates, but a scalable product foundation that balanced speed, flexibility, and quality while strengthening the CRM’s overall value proposition.
