User Experience (UX) is about optimising how your audience uses your website or app. It might help to think of UX from the perspective of a website visitor. Our job is to work with you to map out the journey, or potential journeys, visitors might make through your website.

We consider top-level journeys, but it also goes right down to the design of links and buttons. For example, if you want someone to click on a button to get to the next stage of the journey, you might ask: is the interaction between whitespace and content optimised to direct focus to the button? Is the button text exciting? Is it clear what is being offered, should the user click on the button?

Fundamentally, UX is an interaction between the needs of your audience and the needs of your business or organisation. What do they want from you and what do you want from them? This doesn’t mean being aggressive or controlling. If all goes well, your goals and those of your audience won’t be in conflict: ultimately, you want to leave your site visitor feeling satisfied so they keep coming back!

User Interface (UI) describes what the website user sees and interacts with. Everything on your website is technically UI, but the key elements designers focus on include the Navigation Bar, Buttons, Links, and CTAs (Call to Actions). These are the signposts that help your visitor navigate your website successfully.

Let’s say your business goal is to get more clients. The end-point of the journey might be a contact form on the services page. To get the visitor to take this ultimate action, the user journey might begin with a showreel, a warm welcome, or some interest-based content to build trust, excitement, or familiarity before getting to the ‘conversion’ point. There might be several routes to increase these positive feelings, alongside options to go directly to the end-point of the journey, to allow for individual differences between audience members.

Web Development is a massive field! Generally speaking, Developers will specialise in one or two platforms, so finding the right developer for you will depend, in part, on the CMS platform you use.

• WordPress: We recommend WordPress for its flexibility and ease of use. It allows for modular layouts, enabling you to build new pages and edit existing ones without needing a developer. We’ve built modular websites for Firefly Advising, re|scripted, Not A Phase, and I’m From Driftwood.
• Webflow: A cloud-based design tool and CMS, Webflow is user-friendly and allows clients to build early versions of their websites. We’ve built award-winning websites on Webflow, including for the inclusive advertising agency Weirdo.
• Headless CMS: Headless CMS platforms offer speed and limitless customisation options. They allow for integration with any content management system, but development can be more expensive due to the need for custom coding.
• Shopify: Ideal for e-commerce businesses, Shopify offers pre-coded solutions for checkout, discounts, and subscriptions. It provides ongoing support and plug-ins to enhance your online store.
• **Wix and Editor X**: These platforms are designed for non-developers, making them easy to edit. However, they come with limited functionality and may require occasional professional oversight to maintain brand consistency. As of November 2023, we have stopped using Wix due to their links with Israel. For more information, please visit Boycott, Divest, Sanctions (BDS) Movement.

WordPress is the platform we generally recommend to clients.

One of the reasons we recommend WordPress is that you can create ‘modular layouts.’ This basically means creating pre-templated content blocks so that you can build new pages and edit the ones you already have, without needing to ask a Developer for help. We’ve created modular websites for Firefly Advising, re|scripted, Not A Phase and I’m From Driftwood, to name a few.

We often end up recommending modular solutions to charities, who might have the budget to build a new website now but won’t necessarily have the extra budget for future updates. That said, modular layouts are useful for anyone who might need to make quick and cheap edits to their website but doesn’t have a developer in-house. With a modular layout, you can put up a quick announcement or a page advertising an event or a new blog post, without too much bother.

Below we talk about Shopify’s benefits as an e-commerce CMS platform, but WordPress has its own customisable e-commerce platform WooCommerce, which may meet all of your needs.

Webflow, a cloud-based design tool and CMS. Some of our clients have used Webflow to build early versions of their websites themselves, without development experience, as it’s designed to be very user-friendly. This can be a bit of a poisoned chalice, as it is possible to upset the balance of a website if there’s too many people tinkering at once. However, we’ve built some incredible websites on Webflow, including our award-winning work on the inclusive advertising agency Weirdo and the LGBTQ+ sexual health startup LVNDR.

Headless has the benefit of being super fast as its servers are brand new. Its major advantage is that your options are theoretically limitless because a developer will code everything from scratch. You’re free to integrate any content management system, so if you use Airtable to organise products or content, you could code it in, directly. On the flip side, it can also be an expensive platform to build on. Because there’s no pre-existing architecture to fall back on, your development time goes up.

Similarly, if you add particular plug-ins, you’ll need a developer on-hand who knows your site well, in case the logic of these plug-ins changes and your site needs to follow suit.

If you’re an e-commerce business or even an organisation that sells things as part of its offering, Shopify could be a great CMS platform for you. The coding for checkout, discounts, and subscriptions has already been done, so you don’t have to have it custom developed or use too many plug-ins (which can require ongoing maintenance to integrate with your site).

The downside, as always, with using out-the-box technology is some of your options may be limited. But as Shopify is one of the world-leading CMS platforms for e-commerce, you’ll have access to ongoing plug-in workarounds and online customer support from Shopify to help you navigate the back end of your website, after the design phase has finished.

Wix and Editor X are popular CMS platforms amongst people who are not web developers. They have been designed with non-professionals in mind, so they’re easy to edit yourself, but there is also limited functionality.

The advantages are that it’s usually fairly easy to set up (provided you accept the limitations of the technology) and to edit yourself moving forwards. From a design perspective, we have found that the ease of editing is a bit of a double-edged sword. If you go down this route, you may want us to come back and check your work on an hourly contractual basis, so we can help you apply your brand guidelines correctly.

Our video editing services bring your visual content to life. Whether it’s a promotional video, a social media clip, or a documentary, we ensure your message is communicated effectively. We handle everything from cutting and editing footage to adding special effects, transitions, and sound design.

We see video content everywhere now – from our friends, brands, and broadcasters, to social media platforms and internet forums. The video format is growing across all platforms, and its budgets are increasing accordingly.

Studio Lutalica specialises in using video to advocate, explain, educate, and inform. Our team includes creatives who specialise in film editing and social media management, ensuring we can offer reliable advice and all the finishing touches you need to publish your content.

Our Video Editing Services Include:

• Editing and Cutting Footage: We handle everything from trimming clips to sequencing them into a cohesive narrative.
• Adding Captions and Subtitles: Ensuring your video is accessible to all audiences.
• Incorporating Graphic Elements: Adding logos, lower thirds, and other visual elements to enhance your video.
• Special Effects and Transitions: Using effects and transitions to make your video visually appealing.

We use storyboarding as a roadmap to guide us through the video editing process. We research, ideate, and elaborate on the concepts you like, ensuring all your video needs are clarified and understood every step of the way.

Animation means the creation of movement, adding dynamic elements to visual content. In the context of digital design, animati

on can significantly enhance user experience on websites and apps.

Why Add Animation to Your Digital Content?

• Simplifies Complex Ideas: Animation can translate complex ideas quickly and sharply. By visually breaking down intricate concepts, animated content becomes easily understandable and engaging for a wider audience.
• Increases Memorability: The combination of visuals, motion, and storytelling creates a lasting impact on viewers, increasing brand recall and sharing potential. It helps businesses stand out and leaves a strong impression on their target audience.
• Versatile Representation: You can represent whatever you like, no matter how expensive, dangerous, or unusual. Animation provides a versatile medium to showcase your ideas creatively.
• Boosts Engagement: Animation is known to directly increase engagement and appeal to algorithms on major platforms. Whether it’s short clips, explainer videos, or GIFs, animated content is understood to outperform static content almost every time.

Our Animation Services Include:

• 2D and 3D Animations: From simple 2D animations to complex 3D graphics, we create animations that enhance your digital presence.
• Motion Graphics: Adding movement to visual elements to make your content more engaging.
• Interactive Animations: Creating interactive elements for websites and apps to improve user experience.

Let us help you leverage the power of animation and create visually compelling content that will resonate with your audience.