Role:
Web designer · Brand strategist · Copywriter
Industries:
Real Estate · Notary · Vastu
Scope:
End-to-end design and development of a bilingual multi-service website
Overview:
This project began with no existing website, no defined requirements, and no digital examples. Despite 16+ years of experience, Alena’s business relied entirely on social media. The absence of a centralized platform limited credibility, made service discovery difficult, and created friction in onboarding new clients, especially international ones.
Because this was her first website, the early stages required deep discovery and alignment. Through multiple one-on-one consultations with Alena and her assistant, the project evolved from loosely defined ideas into a clearly articulated digital strategy.
Primary Goals
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Establish a strong online presence that adds credibility and reliability to her brand
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Clearly communicate all available services (Real Estate, Notary, Vastu) without confusion
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Serve as a sales pipeline and client booking tool, converting visitors into leads
Guiding Principles
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Keep the brand human, approachable, and relationship-driven
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Avoid overly corporate or impersonal visuals
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Emphasize Alena’s signature approach: meeting people for coffee before signing any deals
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Balance warmth with professionalism and competence
Goals:
Information Architecture:
Key UX Decisions
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Clear separation of Real Estate, Notary, and Vastu at the navigation level
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Dedicated pages for each service to avoid cognitive overload
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Homepage focused on who Alena is before what she offers
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Real Estate is positioned as a primary service, with Notary and Vastu treated as equally legitimate, not just “add-ons”
The architecture ensures users immediately understand:
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What services are offered
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Which path applies to them
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How to take the next step
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Research:
Primary Users
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First-time homebuyers
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Real estate investors
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International clients relocating to Orlando
Secondary Users
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Clients seeking notary services (first-time and repeat)
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Clients interested in Vastu consultations
Emotional Goals
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Excitement about moving to or investing in Orlando
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Reassurance that they have “their person” in Orlando
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Comfort knowing they can communicate in two lanugages
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Trust in Alena as both a professional expert and a grounded, real human being
Brand:
The coffee concept was the central brand motif. This was not invented for the website, it had been part of Alena’s identity for years and was already recognizable within her community. The website formalized and elevated this concept into a consistent brand system.
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A specific yellow tone from her existing business cards was retained for continuity
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The palette was refined and balanced to avoid visual overload
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Typography was updated to feel fresh while remaining approachable
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Visual richness was introduced to reflect her competence and experience
The result was a brand that feels familiar but evolved, recognizable to existing clients and inviting to new ones.
From Constraints to Success:
This project began with high ambiguity. Alena had no prior website, no analytics to reference, and limited availability for meetings, while several brand elements were non-negotiable.
Key constraints:
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First-time website owner with undefined goals
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Limited meeting availability
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Strong brand requirements (coffee concept, yellow palette)
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No existing benchmarks or performance data
To move the project forward, I led structured discovery, using targeted sub-questions to clarify objectives, separate service lines, and set clear priorities early—allowing progress despite limited touchpoints.
Impact:
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Launched Alena’s first centralized digital presence
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Increased traffic from zero to 100+ users
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Established a clear lead and information hub
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Improved lead quality through better service clarity and brand alignment
Reflection:
This project represents a full end-to-end build, from brand foundation to final deployment. I owned every aspect: brand direction, copywriting, UX architecture, visual design, and site implementation.
It pushed me to refine my discovery process, learn how to guide clients who are unsure of their goals, and translate abstract values into concrete design decisions. Most importantly, it demonstrates my ability to build a complete digital product from nothing, aligning business strategy, user needs, and brand identity into one cohesive experience.
This project reflects not just design skill, but ownership, adaptability, and strategic thinking, and it resulted in a genuinely happy client and a functional, living product.
Tools Used:
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Miro: IA mapping, system thinking
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Figma: UI design, brand elements design
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Wix: End-to-end build, SEO, EN to RU translation
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Google Docs: Structured documentation, copywriting