Evolving the Foursquare website

Remembered by most for its humble beginnings as an oldschool B2C social check-in app, Foursquare has since grown into a mature tech startup focused on B2B geospatial location data.

Overview

As the company's target audiences and goals shifted, we found ourselves evolving the brand—starting with the website. The original site lacked a unique brand POV and felt dated, and without a dedicated copywriter or content strategist, copy missed the mark. Areas of the website didn't meet accessibility standards nor observed UI best practices, and while mobile visitors comprised nearly 50% of web traffic, responsive design was not prioritized.

I had the privilege of leading the redesign initiative, establishing the core design system and components across 15+ pages during Q4'24. I worked closely with the marketing team on content strategy as well as our developer agency to execute the designs. We refreshed our brand toolkit shortly after, utilizing the explorations from our website redesign as a springboard to propel our brand forward.

This project has been executed in phases and is ongoing. View what's live here.

lead designer

Brand strategy, web design, animation, copywriting

Collaborators

Alosha Shkolnik, CD
Yana Belitckaia, Designer
View Context

Redesigning the Foursquare website

Overview

As the company's target audiences and goals shifted, we found ourselves evolving the brand—starting with the website.

I had the privilege of leading the redesign initiative, establishing the core design system and components across 15+ pages during Q4'24. I worked closely with cross-functional partners on content strategy as well as our developer agency to execute the designs. We refreshed our brand toolkit shortly after, utilizing the explorations from our website redesign as a springboard to propel our brand forward.

This project has been executed in phases and is ongoing. View what's live here.

The challenge

Context

LEad designer

Brand strategy
Web design
Animation
Copywriting

Collaborators

Alosha Shkolnik, CD
Yana Belitckaia, Designer

Initial Branding

Foursquare’s 2020 rebrand painted it as fresh-faced, minimalist, bold, and trendsetting. As the branding was put into practice, however, it became evident that there was still work to be done. The new visuals lacked character and substance, not quite communicating the brand’s mission of constructing meaningful bridges between digital spaces and physical places, while the youthful personality missed the mark for our B2B audiences, too abstract and artistic to stand out amongst the competition or draw meaning.

before

The initial website lacked a unique brand POV and felt dated. Areas of the website didn't meet accessibility standards nor observe UI best practices, resulting in a clunky user experience. While mobile visitors comprised nearly 50% of web traffic, responsive design was not prioritized.

Without a dedicated copywriter or content strategist, messaging missed the mark and was written with a captive audience in mind instead of providing value up front.

after

We redesigned in dark mode to better appeal to developer and technical audiences and differentiate from competitor marketer sites. The overall look is more modern, and observes WCAG accessibility guidelines + UI best practices for an enhanced user experience.

We examined web analytics to audit content and restrategized the most valuable content for our visitors, resulting in higher engagement and lower bounce rates.

Moving the needle

The solutions

FSQ Evolution

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AllStripes

Infographic

Carousel graphics

LinkedIn sponsored post

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