Project: Whale and Dolphin - MK Way | Saving the digital space from bad design

Tools Used

The Whale and Dolphin Company is an organization providing eco-friendly wildlife cruises while helping to contribute to valuable marine research, explore remote destinations and encounter fascinating wildlife.

Led by Dr. ‘Chas’ Anderson, the founding member of the Marine Research Centre (MRC), The Whale and Dolphin Company had recently hired a website team to design their new online presence and it didn’t go as planned. The website was signed off with fundamental UI (user interface) errors, a basic homepage that was confusing to visitors, and missing spacing, fonts, colors, and CTA’s on the inner pages.

They approached MK Way to help fix their their website to support their expanding operations with the ultimate goal of gathering more online visibility and increasing the frequency they can take liveaboard trips each year.

Client — Whale & Dolphin
Location — Somberg, Canada
Industry — Wildlife Tourism

Scope:

Website (UI/UX) Design
Copywriting
Content strategy

The website faces critical challenges in brand messaging, user engagement, and technical usability. A lack of clear value propositions and ineffective information architecture leaves visitors confused and unmotivated to take action, worsened by unclear copy and missing or poorly placed CTAs. Slow load times from high-resolution images, accessibility issues with text overlays, and broken or missing links further hinder usability. Additionally, poor mobile responsiveness, unoptimized contact forms, and confusing newsletter pop-ups reduce user interaction and conversions. Addressing these issues is crucial to enhancing engagement, usability, and overall site effectiveness.

Re-Design The Homepage

We created a new homepage that addressed the challenges of the previous design. We started by adjusting the copy to make it more sales-oriented and appeal to the target audience.

Old Copy Example

“Expert local snorkel guides, who know all the best locations, ensure we enjoy extraordinary coral reef excursions. We aim to enjoy one or two snorkelling sessions each day.”

New Copy Example

“Experience extraordinary coral reef excursions, offered by our expert local snorkel guides. One or two sessions are offered each day! Visit all the best, secret places known only by the locals!”

Menu & Above The Fold

We then designed a new navigation and menu that was relevant to visitors and helped them find what they were looking for.

We also implemented an above-the-fold strategy with messaging that clearly communicated the company’s offerings and included a prominent call-to-action (CTA) that led to the destinations page. We strategically placed essential information about the company and services on the homepage in a user-centered order, including properly placed CTA buttons to guide visitors towards the actions we wanted them to take.

The result was a useful, delightful, and conversion-oriented experience for visitors.

Technical And Cosmetic Improvements To The Inner Pages

As a next step, we identified and addressed all technical and cosmetic issues throughout the website, resulting in a fast, responsive, and well-designed online presence. This included optimizing images, improving accessibility, fixing broken links, enhancing the design of inner pages, and ensuring the website displayed properly on all devices.

Before

After

20% MORE FOR BELIEVE

We believe in value. Value that makes the difference in your results, without the uncomfortable conversation to upsell an extra item with a price tag. MK-Way regularly goes above and beyond because we genuinely care about the people we work with. Here are a few value-added items that we prepared for Believe as our way of showing our appreciation for their business.