“Fire Control Group aims to create a concise splash page to highlight their services and is considering ways to convey their offerings clearly and minimize customer queries. What are some of the recommended best practices for presenting informative content?”

Fire Control Group is an independent firearms license dealer based in Seattle, and they intend to create a basic splash page to promote their business. Although the company primarily relies on word-of-mouth marketing, they plan to utilize their website to exhibit their range of services. The main objective of the splash page is to achieve a contemporary aesthetic while effectively highlighting their offerings.

In order to gain insight into the audience and prospective clients that Fire Control Group serves, I conducted research through a brief open survey and a competitive analysis.

The survey focused on asking firearm owners what pain points they have when visiting an FFL site. Nine participants were asked:

• How easy was it to find information related to firearm transfers?
• Was the process to conduct a firearm transfer easy or difficult? Why?
• What were your initial thoughts when visiting a website to conduct a firearm transfer?
• What do you like the least about existing firearm transfer websites?

Following the receipt of responses, the data was analyzed to identify shared pain points. Out of the nine participants who took part in the survey, seven reported experiencing difficulty in locating information about firearm transfers, despite finding it easy to complete the process once they had found the relevant information. Another recurring theme was that FFL websites often give off an impression of being “sketchy” or “low effort,” which tends to discourage users from proceeding with a transfer.

During the waiting period for survey responses, market research was conducted on FFL websites to gain insight into their design and identify possible pain points. Competitive audits were performed on three Washington-based sites: Precise Shooter, Wade’s Eastside Guns, and Low Price Guns. Each website was evaluated based on heuristics such as first impressions, accessibility, user flow, navigation, brand identity, tone, and descriptiveness. The analysis revealed some shared observations, including the difficulty in finding information related to firearm transfers, unclear navigation, and a lack of mobile responsiveness.

Fire Control Group aims to create a single-page website that provides clear instructions on how to obtain a firearm transfer through their business. Since navigation is not required, issues related to it are not a concern, shifting the site’s design focus to the ease of locating firearm transfer information, mobile responsiveness, and a modern appearance to enhance its credibility. Based on these criteria, a wireframe was developed.

The wireframe was designed to convey simplicity and modernity, featuring a hero image that captures the user’s attention. The services offered by Fire Control Group are presented in boxes, enabling potential customers to quickly gain information at a glance. The pricing section is laid out in a single column, with different price points and fees separated by lines for easy readability. The last major section is a brief “About” section for Fire Control Group to connect with their user base. Finally, a simple footer is included, featuring Fire Control Group’s Instagram account and copyright information.

Although the wireframe was positively received, Fire Control Group has requested that the “About” section be removed. They feel that it is unnecessary to include information about themselves and would prefer to concentrate on highlighting their primary FFL service.

After finalizing the layout, the wireframe was developed with three different color treatments. The hero image features a simple depiction of a firearm, with a color palette that includes safe colors such as black and dark gray. To add contrast to the page’s design, a bronze (bullet-colored) accent was incorporated. A bold sans-serif font was selected to convey a “cool” and “masculine” straight-to-the-point feel.

The Fire Control Group chose to stick with the first design, favoring solid colors with a simple white background. They also requested to add their Instagram feed after pricing.

After finalizing the design, the website was developed by coding it using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript in a NodeJS environment. Because of its minimalistic design and limited interactivity, these technologies were deemed sufficient for the site’s needs. To add an Instagram feed to the site, a free embedded widget called LightWidget was used.

Fire Control Group was extremely satisfied with the final product. Thanks to their active participation in the design process, the end result met their expectations perfectly. Despite having a limited budget, the final design exceeded their expectations. The splash page was simple and had limited functionality, serving only as a platform for Fire Control Group to promote their business. As a result, there were no additional costs beyond the domain registration. Since they did not require any additional features, the basic design was sufficient to meet their needs.

What I Would Do Differently:

In hindsight, if I were to undertake this project again, I would have invested time in researching and incorporating motion design. As it stands, the website is static and lacks animation. The only dynamic aspect of the website is the Instagram feed. By introducing motion, such as fade-ins of images and text as the user scrolls down the page, it would enhance the user experience and make the site more engaging.

Takeaways:

During the project, I was particularly drawn to the concept of minimalistic design. Fire Control Group expressed a preference for simple design elements, and did not require extra features such as images. This approach allowed me to focus more carefully on each aspect of the design. For instance, I chose the font and color scheme with greater intentionality. With a smaller amount of content to work with, each section of the page became more important. The challenge was to ensure that every element on the page had an impact. As I move forward with web design, I would like to explore the key factors that make minimalistic design successful.