WOW Deutsch
- Website redesign
- UX/UI design
- Information architecture
- e-commerce
One store for video courses, printed materials, live lessons and translation services.
Overview
WOW Deutsch is an online German school with more than 20 original video courses, printed workbooks and flashcards, lessons with teachers and translation services. The school already had a website, but it had grown alongside the business: new products were added beside the old ones.
The biggest challenge
Bring four very different products into one website when each is purchased differently: a video course can be paid for immediately, while live lessons or a translation need a conversation first. There are also two audiences: adults who need German for work and parents looking for a course for their child. On the old website, “Courses” and “Buy a course” sat next to each other in the menu, while the homepage mixed formats with topics. People had to work out what was what on their own.
Process
We started with an audit of the old website and the school’s full range, organising courses, materials and services by how people buy them. This showed that not everything sells through a “Buy” button: live lessons and translations require a conversation. We then built a three-level sitemap and separated the two audiences by age and level rather than learning format. Finally, we designed desktop and mobile layouts, paying particular attention to filters on phones.
Solutions
Three paths instead of one list
The header divides the website by what people want: “Courses” organised by level, “Lessons with a teacher” and “Translations”. On the homepage, the “Find your format” section repeats these choices before people start scrolling.
How to choose a course
On the old website, this information lived in a “Course map”: an image with crossing arrows that was hard to read on a phone. We organised it into three levels with clear names and the courses beneath each.
One catalogue for courses and materials
The first filter separates courses from learning materials, followed by type, level from A0 to C1, “For children / For adults”, package and price. Selected filters are visible above the results and can be cleared with one tap.
Two ways to buy
Courses and materials go through a shared cart and checkout. Lessons with a teacher, translations and a trial lesson lead to an enquiry, because they need to be agreed with a person.
Insights
Different products need different ways to buy. Not everything belongs in a cart: when people need a conversation, an enquiry sells better than a “Buy” button.
Filters should speak the buyer’s language. Parents look for “for my child”, adults look for “my level”, while internal format names make sense to the school but not to a first-time visitor.
The homepage is a junction, not a shop window. When there are many products, the first screen should show the paths rather than everything at once.
