Sunbelt
Defining the Brand, the Site, & the Strategy
Branding | User Research | Job-To-Be-Done | Site Architecture | Site Design
Go to Site
The Goal
Solve brand inconsistency, user confusion, and unclear messaging that were affecting user engagement and site performance.
Sunbelt needed a refreshed, cohesive brand and digital experience to better communicate its value to school-based job seekers and employers. I led a full-scale rebrand and UX overhaul to increase clarity, reduce confusion, and create visual and structural consistency.
Problem: The Sunbelt brand felt fragmented, outdated, and unmemorable—resulting in low trust and limited engagement.
The website lacked clear pathways for key audiences and failed to communicate what Sunbelt offered or who it served.
My Role: As the primary UI/UX designer on this project, I was involved in each phase of the process from user research to website design.
I worked with SEO specialists, brand copyrighters, business stakeholders, developers, and marketing specialists.
Research
To uncover what was missing, we conducted deep research to identify pain points and strategic opportunities.
Stakeholder Meeting
Multiple key members of the Sunbelt team from brand leads to verbal consultants to major stakeholders met in Tampa for a stakeholder meeting. We presented and clarified survey results along with activities to kick off the rebrand including:
- User Journeys: As They Stand
- Define the Brand: What, How, & Why
- Personality Sliders
- Persona Rankings
- Moodboard Discussions
Candidate Interviews
Following the stakeholder meeting, I gathered contacts of current candidates working with Sunbelt and contacts of potential candidates that had yet to work with Sunbelt. I asked them things like their motivations in applying to contract positions, the platforms they use, and the their pain points in the job search space.
Client Interviews
Alongside the candidate interviews, I conducted client interviews with some of Sunbelt’s healthcare and education clients to ask some key questions on what they feel Sunbelt is doing right and ways they could improve.
Affinity Maps & Findings
In order to summarize and present the findings of the client and candidate interviews, I created affinity maps, pulled quotes, and created Keep Doing, Stop Doing, and Start Doing lists. The discoveries included pain points of working with staffing companies, working with recruiters, searching for jobs, and on-the-job issues.
Competitive Analysis
After looking into about 15 competitors in the spaces of education and healthcare staffing, we collected our key findings on visuals, verbals, and overall messaging. One of our biggest questions going in, was whether or not Sunbelt wanted to hone in on their national reach or be seen as a local partner.
Defining Positioning Statements & Jobs-To-Be-Done
* Note: Some information has been redacted for business privacy
Branding
Multiple iterations were shown to stakeholders before the final brand was selected.
* Note: Stakeholders chose to keep the original logo
Moodboards
Four moodboards were presented to the stakeholders for their feedback on the visual approach of the future Sunbelt brand.
3 Concepts
Audience Survey
I sent out a survey to users in the education, healthcare, and allied spaces for feedback on the top 3 design concepts. Responses showed patterns of what they found powerful and what they disliked. Feedback gave the team insight into what would stand out in the market and how real users would view the concepts.
The Selected Brand
The selected concept emphasized the fact that Sunbelt’s candidates are people with full lives. They aren’t just defined by the jobs they do, but the people they are and Sunbelt understands that.
Brand Components
In collaboration with the verbal specialist, we developed the concept of “See Work in a Whole New Light.” Each visual component was developed with the intention of framing the small moments in life like windows into the everyday.
Website Design
With the brand clarified, we redesigned the website to fix structural confusion and user flow problems.
Go to Site
This new site build gave us the opportunity to revisit what pages were necessary to keep, what needed to be restructured, and what was missing.
Sunbelt’s original site structure was created nearly 10 years prior and had been added onto over time.
Wireframes
Following the creation of the sitemap and structure, I began the development of wireframes. From the stakeholder meeting and research the team chose to emphasize the relationship between candidate and recruiter with most CTAs and the main navigation catering to candidates.
UX Solutions
Problem: Users didn’t know what Sunbelt did or how to take action on a great deal of subcategories from the main navigation.
Solution: We redesigned CTAs, clarified content hierarchy, and added segmented pathways for different audience types, reducing cognitive load and improving conversion flow.
Mobile-First Testing
Optimized mobile layouts ensured the experience translated smoothly to smaller screens, where many users were starting their journey.
