Tucows + UserTesting

Despite being a distinguished tech industry veteran possessing a wealth of experience and impact within the global tech community, in 2019 Tucows was having a hard time attracting top-quality talent. Its brand and website communications lacked clarity, and were steeped in 90’s-era visuals that didn’t reflect the tech company’s modern work culture and forward-thinking values.

As a result, while about 60% of participants in a UserTesting study thought Tucows was as good or better than their current company, only 50% of them said they would apply to work there.

That was a problem.

Tucows needed to quickly evolve its website and brand to be “the front door to a modern, successful tech company that talented prospects wanted to be part of”—all while honoring Tucows’ history in thoughtful, functional ways.

Tucows’ UX team knew the only way to effectively rebrand and rebuild its website was to base design and messaging decisions upon unbiased feedback from real people. So team members developed a compelling proposal that outlined exactly what they wanted to do, backed by recordings and insights from UserTesting that supported their recommendations—a proposal so compelling, Tucows’ executives unanimously approved it.

The UX team conducted multiple rounds of user tests as the website redesign progressed to ensure tactical decisions resonated with the high-caliber talent the company needed to attract. For example, when internal teams couldn’t agree whether to feature all of the benefits of working at Tucows—or only a select few—on the new site, a user test revealed featuring all would be more powerful as it would allow more people to identify the benefits most relevant to them. And, to balance both internal and external needs during rebranding, modifications to Tucows’ color palette, design elements, and logo were informed by archived photos; old logos; and internal, company-wide surveys—and then iterated based upon user feedback generated by UserTesting.

Tucows credits UserTesting with acting as its compass while crafting the new website: rather than basing decisions on egos or personal preferences, UserTesting video clips and metrics easily highlighted the friction points to be addressed, leaving little room for debate or personal opinions. Instead, UX designers could quickly orient major, strategic decisions about the redesign directly to feedback from real users.

And it worked. After the new site and branding launched, more qualified and talented candidates began applying to key roles at Tucows. All in all, the project surpassed its aggressive goal, with more than 90% of testers now rating Tucows as good or better than their current employer—and more than 90% aspiring to work there. It also positioned Tucows to continue its hiring efforts without disruption when the COVID-19 pandemic unexpectedly hit.

Tucows accomplished another important goal with its rebranding and website redesign as well: it created a dedicated, internal team that was centered around a shared purpose, followed insights together, and tackled the website redesign challenge in an objective, user-centric manner.