Client
Aro
Sectors
FinTech & Financial
Our Services
UX & WordPress Agency in Cardiff
Colum Buildings
13 Mount Stuart Square
Cardiff
South Wales
CF10 5EE
Aro – An 'atomic' approach to frustration-free finance
Discover how we empowered Aro to quickly and easily take charge of their new brand and publish high-quality content with a new ‘atomic’ approach to WordPress page design.
The Client
Aro is a credit broker that runs the largest lending marketplace in the UK. They empower customers through transparent data-driven insights, and want to reduce frustration by matching people with the loans and credit cards that are right for them.
The Project
Aro were rebranding from Freedom Finance when they came to us. They wanted to reskin their existing WordPress website to make it look like their new, dynamic, user-focused brand. This needed to be done on a tight, strict deadline, to coordinate with the launch of their platform across their marketing channels.
The Challenge
The most important part of this project was making sure we maintained the existing systems that Aro were familiar with. They needed to be able to use the site in the way they had before, and create content-rich pages without learning an entirely new system. But, there was a problem: the existing system was broken.
Our research into the site showed there were faults that needed to be fixed (unbeknownst to Aro) that would need to be addressed for the site to function and scale properly. To address this, while keeping to deadlines, involved:
- Clear communication around fixes
- Debugging broken elements
- Re-educating on WordPress best practices
We were also faced with an entirely new way of building pages called Atomic Design. The tendency for agencies is to try and do things “their way” and rebuild a system from scratch. But, frustration-free is one of our core tenets, and we chose to lean into the challenge and pioneer new solutions to existing problems. And, this approach was game-changing for us.
The Exciting Bit
“The most exciting part of this project,” says Simon Pollard, our Lead Back End Developer, “was coming across the Atomic Design Method”. This was a whole new method of building pages, based on more simplified elements. Atoms (small elements), Blocks, (where those elements live), and Containers, (how to blocks are presented on page).
This has made creating pages that marketing and development teams can tweak after they’ve taken control of their site, to build pages and create brand-standard content, much easier. There are fewer elements than can “break”, but there’s more flexibility to build pages your way.
“We’re currently pioneering this on other client projects,” Simon continues, “and we’re seeing great results.”
Rachel Du Val - User Experience DesignerProject Hero
“Rachel was key to the success of this project”
Simon Pollard, Lead Back End Developer“Rachel designed the re-skin in a way that dramatically cut the amount of development time needed, that meant we could focus on fixing issues and improving unexpected areas of Aro’s site. We couldn’t have done it without her!”
Dan Roberts, Lead Front End Engineer
The Results
Aro was able to launch on time and on budget, with a seamless transition to using their newly designed site. Leaning into the Atomic Design method played a huge role in this, by empowering Aro’s team to create the pages they needed quickly and efficiently, while maintaining brand consistency across all of their content.
