Prime Electrical
Introduce an international electrical contracting titan, defining relationships through experiences.
Role
At JTB Studios, I led the end-to-end experience design, collaborating with a project manager, creative director and offshore development and QA teams.
Tools used
Figma, Miro, Keynote
Project Length
2 months
Introduction
Problem statement:
Prime Electrics needs to establish a stronger, more globally connected brand presence to support its expansion into the New Zealand market and effectively communicate its unique value and capabilities to stand out in a new competitive landscape.
Objectives:
Showcase 30 years of experience:
With a strong 30-year history in Australia, we needed to visually communicate Prime’s depth of experience and how it has shaped their position in the market.
Multi-brand navigation:
With a number of different brands under the Prime group umbrella, a system was needed that could easily help potential clients discover and navigate to those sister companies.
Competitor differentiation:
In a crowded and competitive market, Prime needed to stand out and leave a lasting impression on potential clients.
Expand into the New Zealand market:
The new digital experience needed to quickly build trust with clients in a market where the brand wasn’t yet well known.
The Approach
01
Discover & Strategise
The process began with a two-hour workshop involving key client stakeholders to align on the objectives of the new digital experience, define strategic priorities, and establish what success would look like.
Following the session, a comprehensive 50-page digital strategy was developed. This included design and brand recommendations, competitor landscape analysis, relevant industry digital trends, moodboards, and a clear roadmap to guide the next steps.
With alignment in place, the process moved into the ideation phase, exploring the user interface and visual language of the new digital experience. This stage focused on key design fundamentals such as scale, colour, hierarchy, and typography to begin shaping a distinctive and cohesive visual identity.
Initial concepts were reviewed by the Head of Digital and the Creative Director to ensure internal alignment before being shared with the client.
Thanks to the solid foundation established in the in-depth digital strategy, the client was already familiar with the intended direction. As a result, feedback at this stage was minimal, often limited to small copy adjustments.
02
Design & Discovery
03
Test & Validate
Once the pages were fully designed and prototyped, usability testing was conducted with five participants recruited through Askable. This number was selected as it typically reveals the majority of usability issues without exceeding time or budget constraints.
Participants were asked to complete specific tasks, such as locating information and using filters to find a relevant project. Both observational insights and quantitative feedback were collected across key areas, including navigation, content clarity, and task efficiency. The results helped validate the overall experience and highlight areas for refinement prior to development.
Once testing was shared with stakeholders and final changes were approved, documentation began. Given the intricacy of the design, with precise layouts and carefully choreographed animations, clear, detailed documentation was essential to ensure a faithful build.
Principle was utilised to communicate key motion behaviours and translated transition effects into HTML/CSS references, along with clear interaction guidelines for the development team.
Throughout the build, supported was given to development and QA to ensure the design was implemented as intended. The project successfully launched on time and within budget.
04
Build & Launch
Challenges
A Flexible Foundation for Multi-Brand Use
The creative direction for Prime needed to consider future scalability — the site would eventually serve as a template for their other brands, including Surelink, Prime Technology, and Complete Plumbing Contracting. This meant every design decision had to be made with the broader ecosystem in mind, balancing brand personality with flexible, reusable foundations.
Implementing the animations and transition effects with development.
The design ambition for this project speaks for itself with lots of intricate transitions and interactions, used strategically to position Prime as leader and a premium services provider. Working with development to get it pixel perfect was challenging, often requiring alignment meetings and desk checks.
Showcasing Project Experience
The design of the project pages had to be laid out in a way that would appeal to potential clients, keeping in mind that most would be time-poor and browsing multiple contractor websites. We made it clear which clients (eg. Landlease, Probuild etc) each project was for, helping Prime establish credibility and showcase the trust other businesses place in the company.
Moodboard to communicate creative direction
Outcomes
22% increase in enquiry rate (within 3 months):
Within the first three months of launch, Prime saw a 22% increase in enquiry submissions. The redesigned site played a key role in establishing a strong digital presence in New Zealand, helping them land on the radar of new clients quickly. One team member shared, “I didn't expect this amount of traction so early after launch”
18% increase in contracts won (within 6 months):
Six months after launch, Prime was winning 18% more contracts. Clients responded well to the elevated, professional look of the site, which helped build trust in the early decision-making stages. As the director at Prime put it, “People tell us that Prime stands out amongst the competition because of the direction we've taken to present ourselves online”
15% reduction in bounce rate:
The new content, with a richer projects section and a mobile-first design, helped decrease bounce rate by 15%. Potential clients were spending more time browsing projects and services, with one of Prime's clients noting, “I was blown away by the scope of your projects and how elegant everything is presented.”
Strong first impressions with potential clients:
Prime received consistent qualitative feedback from potential clients who described the website as “memorable,” “unexpected for a electrical contracting company” and even “the best-looking site we’ve seen.” This emotional connection helped position Prime as a standout choice in a crowded, often commoditised market.
The end — or maybe just the beginning?
Whether it’s just a friendly chat or a potential opportunity, feel free to say hello.