IgniteWV is a startup incubator and resource center for entrepreneurs based in West Virginia. Their organization seeks to empower entrepreneurs by facilitating connections between startup businesses, mentors, and investors. Through these collaborative networks, they guide entrepreneurs in navigating the distinctive challenges inherent to West Virginia businesses, ultimately contributing to a prosperous economic future for the state.
Timeline: April 2023 – Present
Role: Branding + UI/UX Consultancy
Client: IgniteWV
The foundational IgniteWV branding was crafted by the WVU Chambers College of Business’ Strategic Communications team. Subsequently, it was entrusted to our team for meticulous fine-tuning. Collaborating closely with IgniteWV’s team, we delved into a comprehensive understanding of their target audiences. Through iterative refinement, we adjusted the brand, ensuring alignment with the preferences of stakeholders representing diverse age groups within the intended audience. This iterative process aimed at achieving a consistent, impactful experience through their visual language and messaging.
We designed the website interface and site map/user flows for IgniteWV.com, and developed and launched the final site. By collectively identifying the key success metrics for the IgniteWV team, researching strategies employed by similar organizations, and leveraging our industry insights, we took the lead in shaping the content strategy. From the initial information architecture to the website’s eventual launch, we played a pivotal role in ensuring a cohesive and effective online presence. IgniteWV.com now stands as the primary digital information hub for the organization, encompassing the business plan competition, guidelines, helpful resources, testimonials, and an event calendar.
After Effects, Figma, Flywheel, GitHub, Illustrator, Photoshop, Visual Studio Code, WordPress
IgniteWV’s website includes a media section with blog posts and image galleries, designed to accommodate future video content. Geared towards inspiring future competitors, this section highlights the stories of past awardees along with professional photography from prior competitions.
A critical component of the website lies in the Compete page, housing comprehensive onboarding instructions and downloadable documents for the competition. The page features a sub-navigation equipped with jump links, ensuring a user-friendly experience by highlighting the active section as users scroll through the content.
From interactive, subtle scroll-based effects and animated infographics to creative button hover states, IgniteWV’s interface is designed to inform and entertain users. As an organization committed to changing the landscape of business in West Virginia, portraying their organization as an innovative, tech-forward brand was essential.
The content strategy involved researching prevalent practices in organizations like IgniteWV. It focused on incorporating frequent call-to-action buttons guiding users to the competition sign-up or the inquiry form. Additionally, we strategically organized the often-technical content into easily scannable sub-sections to mitigate user attrition.
Alongside developing the website following W3C best practices and ADA compliance, our team optimized all photos, graphics, and video content to ensure swift loading times.
IgniteWV’s website is hosted on our agency’s server at Full Circle Design. All sites on this server undergo daily backups, monthly analytics, and benefit from a maintenance request portal. This portal notifies our team promptly in case of any issues experienced on the website, ensuring swift resolution.