Windows genuine advantage
Website
Information
Background
Windows Genuine Advantage was a program intended to combat the spread of pirated versions of Windows. The site had two main purposes: To communicate the value of genuine Microsoft software, and to provide a discounted version of genuine Windows when a user’s copy of Windows was found to be counterfeit.
INCEPTION
I joined the Genuine team as a contractor within the Windows design team. There was a project to redesign the Genuine website, but it was rudderless. The previous contractor had produced very little and was evidently difficult to work with. The redesign needed to happen in less than a year.
The existing website was visually noisy, unbranded and had poor visual hierarchy and information architecture.
Next I took an inventory of all of the elements and styles that I encountered and highlighted instances where concepts might be stylistically combined.
My starting point was the new Genuine Microsoft Software logo, which had been professionally produced. I derived a color palette from this and began doing conceptual mockups for the site’s personality.
ELABORATION
With a style list and a visual system in place, it was now time to redline all of the elements. I created an internal style guide website for the developers. In addition to redlines and styles, the site had a project page to track all of the conversion work from the old design to the new design. The new site was constructed by mapping the elements in the old design to their new equivalents on a page-by-page basis.
CONSTRUCTION
With the new design in place and all of the page conversions underway, there was time to give attention to some specialized areas. One such area was the validation failure experience, where a user with an invalid copy of Windows is offered a genuine copy of Windows at a discount.
DELIVERY
The project, which was troubled in the beginning was a resounding success. The project was completed on time and all team members were delighted with the new look and feel. As a result of my efforts, I was invited to interview for a full time position in the Windows UX design team. I became a full time employee in 2007.