World First

After working alongside the Design Council, World First, the UK leading foreign exchange, saw an increase in online visitors and page views – with the average time viewers spent on their website up by 70%. The company directly attributed its 31% annual growth to the clarity and confidence their investment in design gave them.

Ambition

With a strong position in the market and a name for first-rate customer service and competitive transaction rates, World First were ready to build on their already impressive status and grow their business further.

They knew their website needed updating and had plans to use it as a platform to show case their services – the question was how to use design to standout in a crowded market place?

The process

Neil Gridley, one of the Design Council’s Design Associates, worked with World First's senior management to pinpoint World First’s main issue – lack of consistent branding. The website, which had been designed at launch, had fallen behind World First’s rate of growth and no longer adequately reflected the company’s identity.

With Gridley’s 20 years’ experience, providing design advice to a range of global corporations including Philips, Electrolux, Britvic and Unilever - he was perfectly placed to manage this project.

The website, which had been designed at launch, had fallen behind World First's rate of growth and no longer adequately reflected the company's identity. To propel World First to greater success, Gridley recommended a strategic design approach to better reflect the company’s ethos and convey their corporate identity.

The first step was a strategic rebrand - ensuring World First’s values, beliefs and goals were perfectly aligned before they began building the new website. Gridley led the work, encapsulating what would be needed into a detailed brief and Edinburgh based strategic design agency, Project, was chosen to carry out the work.

The results

With the Design Council support in place, and Project carrying out the brief, a streamlined set of values were captured in a single phrase ‘on your side’, inspired by World First’s relationship with its customers.

A fresh emphasis on photography, using candid images of World First’s own staff was introduced. The response to the new website when it went live, surpassed all expectations. The average time visitors spent on the site increased by 70%, and improved brand confidence was directly responsible for an annual growth rate of 31%.