Redefining Marine and Digital Experiences with MasterCraft
MasterCraft has forged an unparalleled legacy, pioneering the way forward in performance, comfort, quality, and innovation with their lineup of award-winning boats. ZaneRay had the pleasure of collaborating with MasterCraft on developing a website that truly embodied the brand's signature luxury.
Challenge
MasterCraft was looking to enhance their digital presence through a website redesign that reflected the exceptional quality by their iconic boats. The request was for a digital platform that not only informs and engages but also resonates deeply with the brand's target audiences. The goal was to encapsulate the very essence of the brand while infusing the interface with an air of luxury and immersion.
Approach
A robust design system with a modular structure was created to enable the MasterCraft team to leverage a CMS and component architecture to create a rich user experience. From stunning visuals to intuitive navigation, every detail was purposefully crafted to offer both consumers and dealers worldwide a premium journey. Whether exploring the latest models or customizing their dream boat, users are immersed in an informative, intuitive, and undeniably luxurious experience that reaffirms MasterCraft's position as a leader in the towboat industry.
Information Architecture
Through user research and data analysis, key pain points were identified and prioritized. Leveraging insights from digital personas and user journeys, intuitive navigation and product discovery were refined to streamline the user experience for consumer and dealer needs. This transformation provided an immersive platform for users to explore, discover, and ultimately find their ideal boat.
Navigation
The navigation redesign aimed to elevate the user flow, ensuring clear and intuitive guidance. It utilizes a typographic hierarchy to highlight the most important pages first, along with concise boat descriptions and images for easy at-a-glance comparison. Users can also choose to visit boat family landing pages or navigate directly to specific model detail pages. The reimagined interface slides in from the left, overlaying the main content of the page, and provides users with tiered navigation options that are focused on mobile and are consistent across all devices.
User Experience
The redesign emphasized informative yet easily digestible content, supported by large, high-quality imagery and videos that captured the essence of each boat. Tabs were utilized to provide easily accessible content for both consumers and dealers. This visually engaging approach invites users to explore more pages, seamlessly navigating and comparing boats based on their lifestyle needs. Designed to be equally effective on both desktop and mobile platforms, the new site ensures a premium, user-friendly experience that aligns with MasterCraft’s commitment to excellence.
Design a Boat
The reimagined Design-A-Boat configurator was designed to perform seamlessly on both desktop and mobile devices. It offers a vast array of options while maintaining an easy-to-use interface. The process was restructured into six digestible steps, allowing users to navigate effortlessly through each customization phase. Users can see live changes, save their progress, take snapshots, share their designs, view boat specifications, access a selection summary, and more. This overhaul also included the development of a separate dealer version to streamline ordering.
Showcasing Premium Products
Clear content structure guides users' attention naturally across the page, while interactive elements and subtle effects enhance the scrolling experience. Flexible components featuring lifestyle imagery and videos vividly narrate the story of each boat, ensuring each page offers a unique and captivating feel. The site provides a premium experience tailored to its target audiences, encouraging consumers to return and explore more.
ZaneRay's execution of the redesign of MasterCraft.com was exceptional. Their team demonstrated outstanding thoroughness, proactivity, and creativity, all while deeply understanding our brand and customers. Beyond front-end design, ZaneRay applied a scientific approach to understand customer behavior, needs, and expectations, seamlessly blending logic with creativity. They struck the perfect balance by delivering elite functionality while visually representing the MasterCraft lifestyle. Throughout the project, they communicated milestones transparently and managed to come in under budget. Working with ZaneRay was truly a pleasure.
Success
Through the continued partnership between ZaneRay and MasterCraft, our teams now have the essential framework to streamline site operations and introduce new boat model and brand pages as needed. The strategy will remain focused on ongoing optimization through Customer Success, ensuring the consistent delivery of the best user experience.
