Reimagining the Ulbrich Digital Brand Experience

Practically invisible to the everyday consumer, Ulbrich has been a part of some of the most monumental events in our recent history – from pivotal advances in medical technology to the materials used to build the Apollo spacecraft. Being able to help a century-old manufacturer undergo a digital transformation meant gaining a rapid understanding of their business first. True to the methodology of Design Thinking, we began by immersing ourselves in both the manufacturing and materials themselves – using that as the foundation for how we could ultimately shape an effective digital experience and visual language around the brand.

Using our refreshed visual styles and UI components to more accurately reflect Ulbrich’s products and services, we engineered a new architecture and site strategy that would be built using a single CMS. This gave Ulbrich a highly flexible system that could scale with ease as they continued to expand their products, services, and physical footprint to countries around the world. Launching the reimagined Ulbrich.com effectively transformed it, taking it from a portfolio website hampered by legacy systems and technical debt to a robust digital experience that could be used to manage, track, and measure a singular sales funnel. With a new website in hand, Ulbrich’s employees could quickly drive conversions across all industries – regardless of their location or needs.

Ulbrich knows their most valuable product isn’t their metals, but their expertise. Throughout our immersion process, we were able to help surface and design a new service offering that could bring that idea to life: The Ulbrich Development Partnership. In manufacturing, successful product development often starts with great ideas and greater risks. Ulbrich’s Development Partnership would allow manufacturers to minimize risk, by partnering with Ulbrich to develop and design innovative custom material solutions based on technical feasibility. Part of the new Ulbrich.com experience included adding a series of recursive customer journeys that led to additional awareness and interest for this new service.

Inspired by the principles and technology that drive the commerce experience of many consumer-facing brands, we also developed a custom digital merchandising system for Ulbrich. This gave their internal team an order management system that seamlessly integrates into the CMS, enabling fast product inventory updates. For Ulbrich’s customers, products are sortable, searchable, and easy to navigate with a nearly frictionless experience when it comes to getting a quote for purchase.

To ensure the launch and sales adoption of the new Ulbrich.com was a success, our team took typical, antiquated testing to the next level. We invited members of every department within the company to participate in a progressive user-centered testing methodology to ensure that every aspect of our digital experience had been tested by the people and customers who know this business best. In addition, we were able to use this opportunity to provide 1-on-1 training for Ulbrich’s sales and marketing teams, which gave them a greater understanding of how to leverage the tools and resources they needed to keep driving the business forward.