Enterprise Nation

We conducted a code audit and made significant technical fixes to the site. Most importantly, we carried out thorough user research and made vital user experience improvements, delivering a website that better meets their business and member needs.

The Background

Enterprise Nation is an organisation that helps people start and grow successful businesses. It’s the UK’s most active small business network, connecting its members with over 70,000 start-up entrepreneurs, small business owners and enterprise experts.

Enterprise Nation’s website is critical to its business. It’s where people sign up to become members, and it’s the first port of call for existing members who want to book events, check the latest news, or access member services.

Enterprise Nation had commissioned a site redesign, but quickly realised the agency they were working with did not have technical or user experience expertise. Enterprise Nation asked Bit Zesty to come on board to rescue the project and subsequently improve the site’s user experience.

Code Audit and Website Rescue

As with all our rescue projects, we started by carrying out a thorough code audit. This revealed such significant problems that we recommended rewriting the code from scratch. Enterprise Nation was growing quickly and wasn’t in a position to wait for a full rebuild, so we agreed to help them by painstakingly improving the site bit-by-bit. We fixed a large number of bugs, repaired code, and addressed pressing technical issues.

We then worked with Enterprise Nation to improve the user experience and user journeys, to ensure the site better met business and user needs. We made “calls to action” clearer, made membership resources easier to access, and improved the sign-up process.

Integrating Other Systems and Services

We built an API to integrate Enterprise Nation website with other key services and systems, including Eventbrite for event booking, Microsoft Dynamics CRM for email marketing, and Stripe for payments.

Enterprise Nation also has an online marketplace where small businesses can buy services from a network of advisors. We extended this service to enable members to post briefs and receive responses. Also, while the marketplace is an integral part of Enterprise Nation’s business, it was completely separate to their main website. We implemented a single sign on, so that members don’t have to log in to each of them separately, therefore creating a more seamless user experience.

A Service Designed and Tested by Users

We took an iterative approach to design and development.

We used prototypes and usability testing to improve the membership, sign-up and resource journeys before committing changes to the live service. This allowed us to identify points of confusion early and refine the designs using feedback from the people who would use them.

The resulting service made calls to action clearer, improved access to membership resources and created a more consistent experience across the website and marketplace.

User Research Informing Strategy

The original site was designed without conducting user research. It’s difficult to improve a service without fully understanding user needs, so after fixing the pressing issues with the site, we conducted user research to help Enterprise Nation understand how they could improve their service and therefore further increase membership and improve retention.

We attended Enterprise Nation events to interview members, conducted a survey of existing and potential members, and carried out a detailed competitor analysis. We also ran usability tests and analysed website data to identify usage patterns and drop-off points.

Our research didn’t just focus on the digital user experience – we also wanted to understand the offline user experience and how useful people found Enterprise Nation membership. We carried out user interviews and surveys to identify what motivates people to become paying members, which membership features they value and what was still missing. We also looked at attitudes to pricing among members and potential members, while competitor analysis allowed us to compare Enterprise Nation’s offering and user experience with key alternatives.

Usability tests and website analytics, on the other hand, informed us how people used the website and what could be done to improve the user journey.

The outcome of our research is helping us prioritise our ongoing improvements to the website, and is helping Enterprise Nation define their membership and pricing strategies.