TransAlta

A fresh digital experience for clean energy

As an international leader in owning, operating, and developing a diverse fleet of power generation assets, TransAlta needed a portal redesign that would reflect its new identity and support a complete restructuring of information.

The redesigned site provided a user-friendly experience, carefully crafted through a UX and UI approach that aligned seamlessly with the company’s global capabilities and vision.

My role: Web design lead, hands-on UI, strategy

Context

This project began with a comprehensive discovery phase to address a site that had become outdated, overloaded with information, and still reflected the company’s early focus on energy sources.

As the lead designer, I guided the efforts for a cohesive design solution to showcase the company’s evolution into clean energy.

Collaborating closely with project managers, copywriters, and external branding partners, we worked together to seamlessly integrate new content with legacy information while enhancing site functionality for a more intuitive and engaging user experience.

Process

After leading the discovery and define stages, we adopted a modular design approach to optimize development and scalability. I created the starting base wireframes for both mobile and desktop, followed by color-based prototype templates, which were further refined and expanded upon by the team.

This process involved close collaboration within the design, development, QA and research teams through iterative reviews and workshops.

We refined the technical functionality, added light animated transitions, and ensured a smooth handoff to development. This ongoing collaboration ensured the design and functionality met both user needs and technical requirements.

Results

The bold, refreshed site was successfully launched in June 2022, addressing key concerns like brand integration and site structure.

After the launch, the client took on the responsibility of gathering in-house insights, and we continued to collaborate closely to incorporate these adjustments, ensuring the site not only met current needs but also set the stage for future improvements.

Defining structure through wireframes

A set of wireframes was created to define the site’s structure at a foundational level. These wireframes acted as a blueprint, outlining content placement, functionality, and user flows to ensure a seamless navigation experience.

Multiple rounds of revisions helped clarify how users would interact with the site, and allowed both developers and project managers to align on how to address previous issues and incorporate lessons learned from earlier versions. This stage was also crucial for fleshing out content requirements, ensuring that all elements were carefully considered before moving forward.

A modular approach for growth

After the agreed structure, the digital aspect started to take shape. The challenge here was to reflect the brand's bright identity while keeping the design modular for scalability and easier development.

This approach not only ensured flexibility for future updates but also helped streamline the technical process by using reusable components. Additionally, we began building a visual digital language by designing patterns and selecting images to create a cohesive, dynamic style that aligned with the brand and could evolve into a full design system as the client’s needs grew.

For this project we set up a basic framework that could scale and adapt as the site evolved to become the Design system.

We established core elements such as typography, color palettes, and UI components to create a consistent foundation.

This initial structure was intentionally flexible, allowing for future iterations and enhancements as user feedback and design needs shaped the product over time.

By focusing on a strong, adaptable starting point, we ensured that the system could scale to the partner sites.

We set up a basic framework that could scale and adapt as the site evolved to become the Design system.

We established core elements such as typography, color palettes, and components to create a consistent foundation.

By focusing on an adaptable strategy, we ensured that the styles could scale to the partner sites.

As part of the solution, the site was designed with a modular approach, allowing colors to be easily updated through the CMS (Content Management System), while ensuring overall consistency.

Since the client would handle ongoing updates and maintenance after a certain time, it was crucial to create a flexible system that minimized discrepancies between the original and future iterations, and that changes made in the future would align with the established design principles when possible

As part of the solution, the site was designed with a modular approach, allowing colors to be easily updated through the CMS, while ensuring overall consistency.

Since the client would handle ongoing updates and maintenance after a certain time, it was crucial to create a system and guides that were easy to onboard on, to minimized discrepancies between iterations.

Final thoughts

After integrating a variety of perspectives and user insights, the new site for TransAlta was successfully launched. The process wasn’t without its challenges, as managing the large volume of content and aligning multiple moving parts required ongoing collaboration. Yet, through continuous feedback and iteration, we refined the site’s design and functionality. While the path wasn’t always easy, the end result was a product the client was proud of, feeling confident that the new look would meet both user needs and business goals.

Thanks for following along! I can’t wait to bring you on the next exciting case study 📚

TransAlta

TransAlta

TransAlta

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