Bright Futures Counseling

How we unified two platforms into a seamless brand experience and enhanced the user experience for counselors.

TYPE
Client Project

ROLE
UX design, UI design, brand identity, web development, e-commerce optimization

DESIGN TOOLS
Adobe InDesign, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop, Squarespace, Kajabi

The Challenge

Bright Futures Counseling provides essential resources for school counselors, but their digital experience was fragmented.

  • Their main website lived on Squarespace, with a distinct brand aesthetic.

  • Their courses were housed separately on Kajabi, with an entirely different look and feel.

  • Their shop needed a better system to help counselors find, organize, and purchase resources efficiently.

This made for a confusing, disconnected experience that made it difficult for users to navigate between offerings and make purchasing decisions with confidence.

Bright Futures Counseling needed a cohesive brand and UX strategy to bring their platforms together, create a more intuitive user experience, and optimize conversions.

The Approach

For the website strategy, we focused on three core objectives:

1. Unifying the Brand Across Platforms

We streamlined the visual identity across Squarespace and Kajabi, ensuring a seamless transition between the website, courses, and shop.

  1. Brand Cohesion – We aligned typography, color palettes, and design elements to create a unified, recognizable experience.

  2. Consistent Navigation – The site’s structure was designed so users could move between the website, shop, and courses effortlessly.

2. Improving Resource Discovery with a Visual Mega Menu

With an extensive catalog of resources and courses, navigation was a critical UX challenge. We implemented a highly visual mega dropdown menu that allowed users to:

  • Quickly locate categories (e.g., Anxiety Resources, Social-Emotional Learning, Small Group Lessons).

  • Preview resource thumbnails before clicking through.

  • Navigate with ease without feeling overwhelmed by too many choices.

3. Optimizing the Digital Shopping Experience

Counselors often need supervisor approval before making purchases, so we built a custom "Quote Request" function that allows users to:

  • Add multiple resources to their cart and generate a PDF quote to submit for approval.

  • Bundle and save with clear, engaging visuals encouraging users to purchase related resources at a discount.

  • Receive tailored recommendations at checkout based on frequently purchased bundles.

Designing the Experience

Seamless Brand Integration

Bright Futures Counseling’s original setup felt disconnected, with a branded Squarespace website and a separate Kajabi platform for courses—each with its own look and feel. To create a unified experience, we:

  • Standardized branding across both platforms, ensuring a seamless transition between the website, shop, and courses.

  • Aligned typography, color palettes, and UI components so users could move between resources without confusion.

  • Redesigned layouts and visual hierarchy to create a cohesive, intuitive interface that strengthened brand trust.

Visual Mega Menu for Simplified Navigation

With a vast catalog of resources, we knew that a traditional dropdown menu wouldn’t be effective. Instead, we introduced a highly visual mega menu that allowed users to:

  • Scan and locate categories easily (e.g., Anxiety Resources, Social-Emotional Learning, Small Group Lessons).

  • Preview resource thumbnails within the menu before clicking through.

  • Navigate quickly on mobile, with a responsive design ensuring seamless usability across all devices.

Enhancing the Checkout Process

For school counselors, purchasing resources isn’t always as simple as adding items to a cart—many need approval from a supervisor before finalizing a purchase. We built a checkout experience that was both intuitive and functional for their needs.

  • "Quote Request" System: Counselors can add resources to their cart and generate a PDF quote to send for supervisor approval before completing the purchase.

  • Bundle & Save Recommendations: Users are encouraged to bundle related resources at a discount, increasing average order value while helping them get the most relevant tools.

  • Smart Checkout Flow: We implemented a dynamic recommendation engine, showing users similar resources frequently purchased together, helping them make informed decisions.

The Results

The Bright Futures Counseling redesign transformed a fragmented digital experience into a seamless, user-friendly platform that better serves school counselors. By aligning branding, improving navigation, and optimizing the shopping experience, we created a more intuitive and conversion-driven system.

Key Wins:

  • Unified Branding: The brand now feels cohesive across Squarespace and Kajabi, ensuring users experience a seamless transition between learning and shopping.

  • Improved Navigation: The new visual mega menu makes it easier for counselors to find and purchase the right resources, reducing frustration and increasing engagement.

  • Optimized Shopping Experience: The customized Quote Request system directly addresses a major pain point for counselors, making it easier to justify and gain approval for purchases.

  • Higher Conversions & Increased Revenue Potential: By implementing bundling and smart checkout recommendations, we encouraged larger purchases, increasing both average order value (AOV) and overall sales.

  • User Feedback & Adoption: The new experience has simplified the purchasing process for busy counselors, allowing them to focus on what matters—supporting students with the right resources.


GRANT DAVIS

“Before working together, my site was not visually appealing and navigation was difficult for the user. After working with Stacy, I felt so relieved, proud, and excited about my site! The professional yet approachable look made me look qualified and relatable. Stacy helped me put a visual into my customer journey. And my page views have increased!”

In Conclusion

Through a thoughtful approach to UX/UI design and e-commerce optimization, Bright Futures Counseling’s digital ecosystem was transformed into a seamless, intuitive experience that empowers school counselors to find, bundle, and purchase resources with ease. By unifying branding, streamlining navigation, and optimizing the checkout process, we removed friction from the user journey and created a more engaging, conversion-driven platform.

The impact of these improvements is clear: after implementing the e-commerce shop and upgraded UX functionalities in August 2023, organic traffic saw a significant increase, nearly doubling from previous months. This shift not only brought more visibility to the brand but also improved accessibility for educators seeking resources.

This case study highlights the power of user-centered design—bridging the gap between business needs and user behavior to create a cohesive, scalable solution that not only serves counselors today but also supports future growth.