The Challenge

The challenge was twofold:

1. Clarity — Eric offered a wide range of services and proprietary tools, but needed a structure that mapped to who his business had become, not who it used to be.

2. Identity — his visual brand and website needed to reflect the reassurance, professionalism, and calm authority he brings to client engagements, while leaving room to grow into new service lines.

We needed a cohesive brand system and digital presence that would resonate with diverse audiences, from CEOs to nonprofit directors, while positioning Hutchison as both approachable and deeply credible. Solving that meant treating this as a business strategy problem as much as a design one. Positioning Hutchison Consulting as a full team with deep expertise, rather than a single consultant, meant every decision, from IA to messaging to visual identity, had to work together to tell a bigger story about where the business was headed next.

Who We Were Designing For

Early on, I mapped Hutchison Consulting's client base into four core groups based on what each one needed most, since a single "audience" description couldn't capture the range of organizations Eric works with.

Growth-stage SMBs are building HR from the ground up. They're scaling quickly but missing structure around hiring, onboarding, and development, so they need practical frameworks more than a big strategic overhaul.

Organizations with a leadership gap, whether that's a mid-sized company without a Chief People Officer or one struggling with high turnover, are often facing the same root problem from two different angles. Without strategic people leadership at the executive level, disengagement and attrition tend to follow. Both need to see Eric as capable of stepping into that gap.

Organizations navigating complexity, whether a merger, a restructure, or a distributed team spanning time zones and cultures, need a steady, experienced guide who can bring clarity and alignment to a moving target.

Mission-driven, resource-conscious organizations, like nonprofits and municipalities, are balancing real people needs against limited budgets and high public accountability. They need to trust that Eric understands those constraints, not just their org chart.

Designing for all four meant the site needed to build credibility fast for a first-time visitor, while still speaking directly to the very different pressures each group was facing.

What We Did

UX Research & Service Strategy

Before any wireframe or sitemap could take shape, I needed to understand two things: who Hutchison Consulting's clients actually were, and how they thought about the services they were buying. I started with a content audit of the existing site and a competitor comparison analysis to see how similar consulting practices structured their offerings, then ran card sorting workshops with Eric to see how his own services naturally grouped together.

The card sort surfaced a pattern I hadn't expected going in. Eric's dozens of individual offerings, from DiSC assessments to succession planning to keynote speaking, didn't sort neatly into internal departments. They sorted into four buying behaviors instead. Clients weren't thinking "I need a DiSC assessment." They were thinking "I need project-based support," "I need to build my team's capabilities," "I need an ongoing executive partner," or "I want access to Eric's expertise as a thought leader." That distinction became the foundation for the entire information architecture.

Four client-centered service categories emerged from that process (a few of the names evolved as we tested them with Eric):

1. Organizational Consulting & Strategy → project-based support: assessments, performance management systems, employee experience studies, recruiting & hiring tools, change management, succession planning

2. Training & Development → capability building: interactive workshops, career counseling, leadership development programs, DiSC certification and workshops

3. Fractional Chief People Officer → ongoing executive partnership: strategic HR leadership, delivered flexibly, without a full-time hire

4. Speaking & Education → thought leadership: keynotes, guest lectures, curriculum design, conference presentations

These four categories work because they mirror how clients actually buy and think about Eric's work, not how his business happens to be organized internally. Each one is broad enough to group several offerings, but distinct enough that a prospective client can immediately see themselves in it, whether they need a single project, an ongoing partnership, or access to Eric's expertise as a speaker. On the interior pages, we broke each category down further into its specific tools and services (DiSC, PXT, the Voice of the Employee Study®) for SEO and for buyers who already know exactly what they're looking for.

I also created a separate grouping for Strategic Tools (DiSC Suite, PXT Select®, CheckPoint 360°, Voice of the Employee Study®), since these needed deeper sub-pages aligned with authorized partner branding guidelines.

Combined with the audience research above, these two frameworks, who clients are and how they buy, became the backbone of the sitemap that followed.

Brand Identity Design

The new identity was built to exude reassurance, calm, confidence, and partnership:

• Logo: The hand-drawn "HC" monogram, based on the founder's handwriting, reinforces Hutchison Consulting's personal, human-centered approach.

• Colors: A palette anchored in navy blue (trust, stability) and energized with teal and aqua (growth, collaboration, clarity).

• Typography: Pairing Libre Baskerville for headers (timeless professionalism) with Nunito Sans for body copy (modern, approachable clarity).

• Brand Pattern: A geometric square motif symbolizing diversity, alignment, and transformation, echoing the way Hutchison helps organizations build cohesive, high-performing cultures.

Together, these choices tell the story of Hutchison Consulting: a strategic, human-centered partner who helps organizations transform from a reactive approach to managing people into a proactive strategy that builds cultures delivering measurable growth and real-world impact.

The identity extended beyond the website too, including business cards, letterhead, a conference banner, and table runner design, so Hutchison Consulting felt cohesive everywhere Eric shows up.

Website Design & Development

Information Architecture

With the service categories and audience research validated, I mapped the full sitemap so every visitor, whatever brought them to the site, had a clear path to the right page.

Messaging & Copywriting

Tone was critical: the copy needed to be professional and research-backed but still approachable, warm yet credible, and always focused on real-world impact and partnership. Because each audience needed something different from the same site, I wrote with their distinct goals in mind: quick, practical language for a growth-stage SMB, executive-level language for a company evaluating fractional support, steady and reassuring language for organizations navigating change, and budget-conscious, mission-aligned language for nonprofits and municipalities. Each service page includes clear benefits, actionable outcomes, and CTAs that guide users to "Start the Conversation."

Wireframing in Figma

Once the IA and messaging were in place, I built wireframes in Figma to test layout and hierarchy before touching Squarespace, giving Eric a chance to review and approve the structure early. This is also where the key strategy and structure decisions took shape:

• Built a user-centered information architecture grouped around each audience's goals

• Simplified navigation with breadcrumb icons so users always know where they are and how to get back

• Added anchor links on longer service pages so visitors could jump straight to what they needed without endless scrolling

• Designed a responsive layout emphasizing hierarchy, whitespace, and flow across every screen size

Because Hutchison Consulting's services carry real depth, spanning multiple assessment tools, several service lines, and increasingly nuanced positioning around fractional CPO support, the site needed to share a lot of information without overwhelming a first-time visitor. Breadcrumbs and anchor links became the small, evidence-based moves that let users self-navigate through that depth instead of getting lost in it.

Bringing It to Life in Squarespace

With the IA, wireframes, and messaging in place, I built the full responsive site in Squarespace, translating every one of those decisions into the finished experience. Each major service has a dedicated page with consistent layouts, supported by the breadcrumb navigation and anchor links from the wireframes. I also trained Eric's team on how to maintain and update the site themselves, though I've stayed on as his ongoing web and design partner since launch.

To ensure accessibility:

• Implemented alt text, contrast ratios, and structured headings for full accessibility

• Optimized every page for SEO and readability

• Paired icons with text for faster comprehension

• Added distinct calls-to-action for lead generation and engagement

The custom graphics, curated photography, and new brand system create a cohesive experience across the site. The design focuses on lead generation, thought leadership, and resource clarity, positioning Hutchison Consulting as a trusted, full-service partner rather than a solo practice.

See the new homepage below, built to be the front door for every audience at once:

Conclusion

This project brought together branding, web design, and UX strategy into a cohesive transformation for Hutchison Consulting. By combining research-driven information architecture with a modern, professional visual identity, we delivered a site that is clear, scalable, and deeply aligned with Hutchison's mission of creating high-performance cultures.

For me, this case study highlights not only my brand design expertise but also my UX process, using content audits, competitor research, card sorting, and user-centered IA to design websites that truly serve their audiences.

It also highlights something I care about in every project: solving for the business alongside the user. Eric wasn't just asking for a better-looking website. He needed his digital presence to catch up to the business he'd actually built, from fractional CPO support to his growing reputation as a speaker and educator. Getting the UX right meant nothing if it didn't also help him tell that bigger story.

I'm still Eric's ongoing web and design partner today, and it's been rewarding to watch Hutchison Consulting's online presence keep pace with the business as it continues to grow.

Explore the website here.