By forming an in-depth understanding of their many audiences, and taking a user-centric approach, we redesigned GS1 UK’s website to reflect their ambitious new strategy.

When GS1 UK launched an exciting new three-year strategy alongside a refreshed brand, they turned to Coherence to translate this vision into a best-in-class online experience. The challenge was to redesign their website to reflect their evolving purpose and to better serve their growing and diverse audience.

The Challenge

Known widely as the “barcode business,” GS1 UK’s mission extends far beyond supply chain standards. Their new strategy focused on harnessing the power of standards to transform industries and improve lives. As part of their digital transformation, GS1 UK needed a website that would reflect their new brand, promote the benefits of membership, and elevate the role of standards in supporting UK businesses.

The project had several key objectives:

• Improve the user experience to simplify site navigation.
• Update core messaging to align with the new brand positioning.
• Increase conversion rates for the membership enrolment process.
• Broaden relevance for GS1 UK’s expanding range of audiences, from regulators to business owners.
• The website also needed to highlight the critical role GS1 UK plays in regulatory standards, helping protect and inform consumers.

Why Coherence?

Coherence had already built a strong partnership with GS1 UK by migrating their site to a more flexible platform and providing ongoing digital transformation support. Based on our deep understanding of their brand and users, GS1 UK trusted us to lead the site redesign. Our proven track record of delivering impactful digital experiences and driving meaningful change made us the perfect partner to bring their new strategy to life.

Our Approach

• Discovery and Audience Understanding

We began with a deep discovery phase, including documentation reviews, stakeholder surveys, and workshops to clarify the needs of GS1 UK’s varied audiences. This gave us a clear picture of their content requirements and user expectations.

• Content Strategy

We developed a content narrative based on new brand principles, conducted a content audit, and mapped out audience-specific ontologies. This ensured that every piece of content on the site was meeting user needs, addressing their questions, and guiding them effectively through their journey.

• User Experience and Testing

Our UX team carried out journey mapping, site mapping, and user testing to improve site usability and ensure that users could easily find the information they needed at every stage. This led to a more intuitive and user-centric website structure.

• Design and Delivery

We refreshed the visual design in line with GS1 UK’s new digital guidelines and developed a flexible suite of components for use across the site. The improved CMS functionality allowed the internal team to manage content more efficiently. Additionally, we created new page templates and provided copywriting support to ensure the updated content was consistent with the new narrative.

• Copywriting Support

Working closely with the GS1 UK team, we recrafted page copy to align with the new content strategy and clearly communicate the organisation’s evolving positioning.

Testimonial

“The launch of the new site is a significant milestone for GS1 UK and our new strategy. It plays an essential role in supporting our members and UK businesses more broadly, and the improvements we’ve made are designed to make their experience even better.

It’s been a truly collaborative process between the GS1 UK and Cohaesus teams. And with their help we’re proud to have created a site that’s ruthlessly focused on the needs of our members and stakeholders, as well as a platform for the campaign work we’re so passionate about.”

Alex Smith

Head of Marketing, GS1 UK

The Outcome

The redesigned GS1 UK website went live on 30th November 2021, offering a significantly improved user experience. The new design made the site easier to navigate, with content delivered in context based on where users were in their journey.

About GS1

GS1 UK is a not-for-profit organisation that develops and implements global standards for business communication, most notably the barcode. With over 58,000 members across multiple sectors, GS1 UK helps companies of all sizes improve efficiency, safety, and transparency in their supply chains. Their standards enable seamless collaboration between businesses and support innovation across industries such as retail, healthcare, and logistics.