CTFN

Selected Work #5: CTFN Rebrand and Website Redesign

Client: CTFN | Services: Freelance UX Strategy, UI/Web Design

CTFN News approached me for a full redesign of their website and brand with a clear goal in mind: to elevate their digital presence so it matched the credibility, sophistication, and clarity expected of a modern financial news platform.

While CTFN’s reporting is thoughtful and well-researched, their existing website felt visually outdated and difficult to navigate. The interface undermined trust, obscured key value propositions, and made it harder for users to quickly understand what CTFN offers and why it matters. In a high-stakes, high-trust domain like financial news, those friction points carry a lot of weight.

This project was a full end-to-end engagement, which I owned from discovery through launch.

Key Takeaways:

• Developed strong UX strategy to increase perceived credibility in high-trust industries

• Conducted competitive analysis, stakeholder interviews, and a full brand audit

• Redesigned the brand identity including logo, color palette, and typography

• Rewrote and restructured site copy to improve clarity, flow, and conversions

• Revised information hierarchy to reduce cognitive load and build user confidence

• Full website redesign and implementation on Framer platform, set up for SEO tracking

Project Description

Challenge: Financial news is a high-cognitive-load space. Users arrive seeking clarity, confidence, and credibility - often under time pressure and with little patience for confusion.

CTFN’s previous site struggled with:

• Visual inconsistency and an outdated aesthetic

• Weak information hierarchy and unclear content prioritization

• Navigation patterns that made it difficult to orient or explore

• A brand presence that did not reflect the caliber of the journalism itself

The challenge was not just to make the site look better, but to build trust through design - to create an experience that felt calm, authoritative, and intentional while remaining flexible enough to support future growth.

Process: There were several stages and phase of this project - I wore many hats!

Discovery & Strategy

I began the project with a discovery phase grounded in stakeholder understanding and research.

I conducted stakeholder interviews and leveraged AI tools to help construct a structured survey, allowing me to gather deeper insight into:

• Business goals and success metrics

• Editorial priorities and internal workflows

• Target audiences and perceived competitors

• Pain points with the existing site and brand

From there, I completed a competitor analysis across the financial news and media landscape, identifying patterns in layout, tone, typography, and content structure that signaled credibility and professionalism. I also performed a full audit of the existing CTFN website, surfacing usability issues, visual inconsistencies, and gaps in information hierarchy.

This strategic groundwork informed every decision that followed.

Design Approach

I approached the redesign through a Waterfall process, allowing each phase - research, structure, visual design, and implementation - to build intentionally on the last.

Given the context, my design focus centered on:

• Clarity over cleverness

• Calm confidence rather than visual noise

• Strong typographic hierarchy for readability and scanning

• Thoughtful spacing and layout to reduce cognitive load

• A restrained, modern visual system that reinforces trust

Every design decision was made with the user’s mental state in mind. From typography and color choices to layout and rhythm, the goal was to help users quickly orient themselves, understand the value of CTFN’s reporting, and engage with content without friction.

Solution Execution

The solution involved a full visual refresh and a structural rethinking of the site.

I restructured the information architecture to better reflect editorial priorities and user needs, ensuring content felt intentional and easy to navigate. I designed a new component-based system to support scalability and consistency across the site, allowing CTFN to grow their content without sacrificing cohesion.

Key pages and flows were redesigned to feel:

• More editorial and modern

• Purposeful rather than crowded

• Aligned with contemporary expectations for financial media

Once the design was finalized, I implemented the site in Framer, ensuring the live experience matched the design vision with high fidelity and polish. This allowed me to control the details, maintain consistency, and deliver a final product that felt cohesive from concept to launch.

Building in Framer

This was my first full build in Framer, and it was one of the most rewarding web design experiences I have ever had. I love Framer! I taught myself how to use this platform from end to end, including CMS structure, interactions, animations, custom forms, responsive behavior, and complex linking. The build process smooth but did require some advanced troubleshooting. I am so glad I encouraged this client to go with Framer for their platform. I feel that utilizing Framer made this project run more smoothly and quickly than I or my client expected, which was awesome!

Impact

What makes this project especially meaningful to me is how clearly the before-and-after tells the story of good UX.

The redesigned CTFN site feels current, trustworthy, and aligned with the quality of its content. It elevated the brand, improved usability, and gave the client a platform they felt proud to share. Seeing a company’s confidence shift because their digital presence finally reflects their value is incredibly rewarding.

The client was genuinely blown away by the final result, and the project reinforced my belief in the power of thoughtful, human-centered design to create real impact.

Process Reflection

This project reflects how I like to work: deeply understanding the problem, designing with intention, obsessing over details, and delivering an end result that serves both users and business goals.

I also leveraged AI throughout the process - from constructing stakeholder surveys and identifying competitors, to assisting with copy ideation and troubleshooting implementation challenges. Used thoughtfully, these tools helped the project move more efficiently while maintaining a high standard of quality and care.

Owning this project singlehandedly from discovery through launch was both demanding and deeply fulfilling, and it stands as a strong example of my approach to UX strategy and execution.

Process

Design Approach / Framework: For the CTFN project, I followed the Waterfall Model process. This framework was the best fit given the clearly defined scope, high trust requirements, and the need for a cohesive brand and website redesign delivered end-to-end. Rather than a sprint-based product build, this engagement required a structured, sequential approach that allowed each phase to be fully resolved before moving into the next.

I began by discussing project scope and goals directly with stakeholders, establishing clear expectations around outcomes, audience, and success criteria. From there, I conducted research using a combination of stakeholder interviews, competitive analysis, and AI-assisted survey design to better understand the financial news landscape, user expectations, and gaps in CTFN’s existing digital presence. Once insights were synthesized, I outlined the site architecture and content structure, defining information hierarchy, page relationships, and editorial priorities before any visual design work began. This foundation informed the preparation and refinement of visual and brand assets, ensuring consistency and clarity across typography, color, and layout.

With structure and direction established, I designed high-fidelity mockups in Adobe XD, carefully refining layout, spacing, and hierarchy to support readability and reduce cognitive load. Given the high-stakes nature of financial information, every design decision was evaluated through the lens of credibility, calm confidence, and ease of orientation. After design approval, I transitioned into implementation, building the site in Framer with close attention to fidelity, responsiveness, and polish across desktop, tablet, and mobile breakpoints. The final phase included configuring analytics and search visibility through Google Analytics, ensuring the site was measurable, indexable, and ready for launch. This Waterfall approach allowed the project to move forward with clarity and intention, resulting in a cohesive, trustworthy experience that aligns with the quality and authority of CTFN’s reporting while supporting future growth.UX Research & Client Collaboration

Below are a few visuals showing how I partnered with my client to conduct research, uncover key insights, and shape our design strategy.

Reference from Project Coworker

"I think Abby is just smarter than everyone else. She was able to take a complex niche product and redesign our whole branding and website to resonate with our target user group AND still be easily digestible for the general public. We were all blown away by this much-needed face-lift and cannot wait to see how this smart new design performs. Thank you so much, Abby!"

- Kara Sullivan, Director of Engagement - CTFN