Breathable, non-toxic infant and toddler bedding.

The Team

When first approached by Nook for this project, I immediately knew who to call: Zaengle Corp. Having worked with owner, Philip, on a previous project, I knew he was the perfect man for the job. With over 100 sites under their belt, Zaengle Corp., brings a level of unmatched expertise and innovation to every project. 

Helenita Frounfelkner

• Client Management / Digital Producer / Content Strategy / Information Architecture

Philip Zaengle

• Lead Developer

Jacob Zaengle

• Front-end Developer

Jesse Schutt

• Back-end Developer

Derek Nelson

• Senior Designer, Branding

Jessica Mehring

• Copywriting

Services

Getting out of the dark ages

Nook's old site was both literally and figuratively stuck in the dark ages. Users weren't able to easily navigate the site due to its sensitive hover states and non-intuitive navigation. The site was neither mobile-friendly nor responsive. The design was black and grey with the only pops of color coming from the products themselves. When Nook approached us, their message was clear: bring them into the light.

The Nook Experience

Nook's products are anything but ordinary. In a sea of the traditional "white bars of soap" crib mattresses, Nook offers up to 12 bright and pastel colors. Nooksters everywhere agree: when you buy a Nook product - whether a crib mattress for your newborn, a Niche Feeding Pillow for your nursing baby, a twin mattress for your growing toddler or a Pouf ottoman to prop your feet on - you're buying something that has been considered at every level. With each product, Nook asks itself:

• How will this be used in my home or my friends’ homes?
• Is it organic, eco-friendly and sustainable?
• Does it speak to more than just baby?
• Is this product a cut above what's already in the market?
• Is this a product that can be used year after year?
• Are we sticking to our roots by offering quality over quantity?
• Is it easy to care for and make life easier for mom & dad?
• What is this product’s story?
• Does it meet our safety standards?

We made sure to give that same thought and consideration to the future site, brand and overall experience Nook wanted its customers to have when interacting on the new site. 

Beyond the crib

One of the challenges we faced was rebranding Nook as a lifestyle brand rather than just a company offering baby products. Nook wanted to expand its focus while also conveying that the same level of consideration that goes into its baby products is also carried throughout its entire product line.

Working closely with the Nook team, we were able to establish a new navigation structure, brand and content strategy that clearly conveyed Nook was no longer just a crib mattress company.

The existing brand wasn't really a brand at all. They had an established logo, but it needed a newer, modern feel. The photography was okay, but lacked the lifestyle, warmth and relatability Nook wanted to communicate. The content was dated, scientific and at the end of the day, there was just so much of it. The new site needed a defined content strategy with a core focus of being helpful.

Establishing the look

Armed with a new sitemap, brand and content strategy, we put together some moodboards, which demonstrated for the Nook team a few different design directions. The moodboards were quickly able to show both Nook and the project team exactly what Nook did and did not want. Not only did we come out of the moodboard process with everyone aligned on the voice, look and feel of the site design, but we were also all that much more excited to get started on the design.

New to website design and development, Nook greatly benefited from a more hands-on wireframing process, so hi-fidelity wireframes were the way to go. The wireframes allowed Nook and the copywriter to provide invaluable feedback that helped shape the site into a more modular design that later proved to kickstart some major development decisions that were in support of Nook's business goal of an easy-to-use content management system.

The design of the site was where the fun really began. Seeing the wireframes come to life and incorporating the brand new photography and content was a thrill for Nook and us. 

Bringing it all to life...in code

As a best practice, we created a styleguide that was primarily focused on mobile-first. The majority of Nook's customer base is on-the-go moms and moms-to-be, so developing our site with ease of use on mobile phones and tablets was a priority. The existing Nook site was built on Magento, so ease of content and product management as well as simple order fulfillment were crucial for the Nook team. To meet those needs, Zaengle Corp selected Craft CMS and Craft Commerce to provide the best set of management tools for the Nook staff while also creating a top-notch, fast and engaging experience for consumers.

The Results

While the site just launched one week ago, Nook has already seen an increase in site sales and the overwhelming positive response they've received from customers and retailers has been unprecedented. We'll let them speak for themselves, though.

NookSleep.com