Internship · UX & web design

eNotes UX internship

During my internship at eNotes, a study platform based in Seattle, I redesigned four pages of the site: the paywall, About Us, FAQ and Contact.

Client: eNotes
When: Winter 2019
Role: Graphic design intern
Scope: Illustration, photography, wireframes

The redesigned eNotes staff page on an iPad

The brief

eNotes has helped students with literature since 1998, and its site had started to feel dated. My job was to make it feel fresher and more modern while staying true to the brand, which is light and playful but still sophisticated.

The Golden Square (paywall)

Illustration

The Golden Square is what readers see when they reach premium content: a prompt to start a free trial. I was asked to recreate it, starting with a new illustration.

After the first critique, I moved closer to the house style created by illustrator Yumi. A simpler, sketchier drawing works better on small mobile screens and still gets the message across.

Colour palette explorations and two versions of an illustration of a student at a computer — First round: palette and illustration explorations.

Sketchy illustration of a face with a speech bubble containing a book — After critique: looser, closer to the eNotes style.

Paywall wireframes in Adobe XD for desktop and mobile — Final wireframes handed off to my director: the illustration at different sizes and positions, on desktop and mobile. This was my first project, and it's how I learned the feel of the brand.

About Us page

Where it started

The original page had small round headshots under a heavy blue banner that felt corporate and stale.

I squared off the photos but kept them small, so the page stays compact. I strengthened the hierarchy and removed the banner to give the page a more open, modern feel.

The original eNotes About page with round intern headshots — The original page.

Early About page layout explorations in Adobe XD — First explorations, inspired by other companies and blogs. They used placeholder photos while we planned the new staff shoot.

The photoshoot

Over two weeks we took hundreds of portraits. The aim was clean, clear headshots with soft, warm, natural light.

eNotes is a literature company, so each person posed with their favourite book. That turned a row of headshots into a story about the team.

Contact sheet of staff portraits, each holding a favourite book

Final About page wireframe in Adobe XD — The final wireframe draws the eye smoothly down the page without clutter.

Coffee mug, plant and an open book on a windowsill — One of my lifestyle photos. I also shot the office, the Capitol Hill neighbourhood, and flat lays with coworkers' plants and books.

FAQ page

Collapsible sections

This was one of my final projects, so I had more creative freedom. I carried over the clean look of the new About page and turned long, clunky lists of questions into collapsible sections. Readers can scan the topics and open only what they need.

FAQ page wireframes in collapsed and expanded states — Collapsed and expanded states.

Contact page

Keeping it simple

Someone contacting support is usually already a little frustrated. So I kept this page minimal, with a short form, the address and email, and the most common questions right there.

An abstract, soothing illustration by Yumi stands in as a placeholder.

Contact page design with a form, illustration and common questions

What I took away

This internship taught me how to design inside an existing brand, and how to take critique and adapt my illustration style.

Next project Badoo Rebrand →