Driving local discovery and reducing bounce rates for a multi-region lifestyle platform
Cutting navigation friction on Glacier Media's GuidedBy platform using behavioral research and the KISS principle.
( 3.1 ) The Problem: Navigation Friction
At Glacier Media, the flagship product, GuidedBy, was hitting a wall. Users were landing on the homepage and immediately getting lost; it was too hard to find local services relevant to their specific neighbourhood or region. This navigation friction was a silent killer for the business, resulting in high bounce rates and leaving local vendors invisible to the very people they were trying to reach.
( 3.2 ) The Strategy: The Power of 'KISS'
Operating as the sole UX designer within an Agile team, I had to cut through the noise quickly. I leaned heavily into the KISS (Keep It Simple, Stupid) principle. Collaborating closely with our developers and writers, we stripped the interface back to its essentials: a prominent, unavoidable search bar, a clear headline, and an intuitive region selection tool. Every change was backed by behavioural research—I wasn't designing for what looked "cool," but for how users actually moved through the site.
( 3.4 ) The Growth: I Am Not the User
This project was a healthy dose of humility. It reminded me that my job isn't to be right, but to be useful. I had all these complex, "sophisticated" ideas for the UI, but the data showed that users just wanted the basics to work perfectly. Stripping away my favourite design elements wasn't a loss; it was the bridge that actually made the platform functional for the community.