Problem
Like most behemoths in tech, Dolby of 2020 was due for a refresh. Their central request: 'How do you migrate hundreds of pages of complex content to a new CMS without manually designing each and every one?' Beyond this, Dolby knew it needed more differentiation between web pages intended for casual consumers, and more technical materials penned for audio professionals. As the sole designer on this project, I stepped up to impose more visual order on this audio titan, revise its information architecture, and stretch my UX muscles in the process.
Process
Immersing myself in the Dolby brand meant going straight to the root and exploring its legacy site directory—from cinematic landing pages, to speaker installation guides, corporate PR and news. Soon enough, I began to discern commonalities among them. In discussions with my director, I hypothesized that the hundreds of Dolby pages before us could be categorized into 12 distinct subtypes, each with their own unique layout, target audience, and ultimate function. I presented these findings on a call with Dolby's marketing team and received their blessings to render my vision through the Sitecore engine itself.
Solution
At this juncture, I focused my creative energies within the Sitecore CMS, aided by a lead Sitecore developer from Valech. Rather than build these prototype pages from scratch, I constructed them from a pre-existing library of Dolby-branded components, pending a minor styling adjustment here and there. My consumer-facing pages encouraged awe and curiosity, compelling visitors to dig deeper into the magic behind tech like Dolby Atmos. By contrast, Dolby's professional material emphasized organization and a thoroughly consistent UX from resource to resource.
Outcome
With these 12 page prototypes live on our demo environment, I pitched the collection (including two variations for each) to the Dolby marketing team. Having already introduced the concept of each template on our earlier call, I leaned into the raison d'etre and juxtaposition for every component I had placed. Owing to the artistry of our Sitecore developers, and the granularity of my own manifests, Dolby fully endorsed our proposal, adopting it as the core template for their new flagship website. Since then, Dolby Laboratories has automated the launch of branded sites like Dolby Experential, all tied to my team's work on this project.
