First Bank
Redesigning the Family Business Resource Center
Deliverables:
Research
Sitemap
Information Architecture
User Experience Design
Visual Design
Survey Flows &
Family Business Center
A Legacy of Trust,
A Modern Challenge
First Bank has been family-owned for more than a century. Its legacy is built on strength, agility, and deep community trust—qualities that make it a natural ally for other family-owned businesses.
But while the bank’s mission was timeless, its digital Resource Center was anything but. Content was scattered across YouTube videos, long lists of text links, and an outdated layout that buried valuable insights. For a company positioning itself as a thought leader, the experience simply wasn’t measuring up.
The Mission
The challenge was clear: reimagine the Resource Center so that it didn’t just house content, but told a story—showcasing First Bank as a knowledgeable, guiding partner to family business owners. The redesign also needed to create a foundation for surveys and interactive tools that could capture insights, engage clients, and strengthen relationships.
Designing with Purpose
We approached the project in two parts—balancing structure and storytelling:
Survey Flows
We developed flexible survey templates that could adapt to varying question lengths and communication channels. Each flow was designed to feel seamless—helping users move through without friction while giving First Bank actionable insights.
Information Architecture
Instead of a flat, cluttered list, we restructured the site around a narrative flow. Visitors would experience First Bank not just as a bank, but as a mentor figure—a guide through the challenges of family business.
Resource Center Redesign
The new design introduced three anchors:
Featured content to spotlight the most timely and relevant insights
On-demand webinars for easy knowledge access
Search and browse tools to help users explore articles by topic
The funnel to the survey.
The goal was to design a flexible survey template that needs to accommodate scaling up or down the number of questions for a variety of frequencies. It needs to acknowledge and reflect what channel the customer arrived from to maintain consistency of message and actions.
Design approach.
Taking a modular design approach provides us with a scalable and flexible layout that can be repurposed for a variety of engagements.
Survey #1 – Questions
Survey #1 – Submitted
Survey #1 – Results
Survey #2 – Questions
Survey #2 – Submitted
Survey #2 – Results
Family Business Resource Center
Purpose: Provide helpful resources for all current and potential clients, positioning First Bank as thought leaders and valued partners for all things Family-owned Business; create a community for current clients.
A collection of resources including: third party articles and research, first party research and white papers, webinars, and tools (e.g. planning calculators), Community forums / user-generated content.
The current design.
The current homepage relied heavily on YouTube videos and text links. However, the videos were not extremely relevant and the text links were poorly organized and not relatable to the content.
After re-organizing the content, we were able to simplify the page and add a a cohesive linear storytelling structure. Where First Bank became the father figure and helped the user find resources that could benefit them depending on the stage they were on their current process.
Information Architecture.
As part of the exercise, we recommended First Bank to reorganize the structure of the site for a more engaging and streamlined experience.
NEW Family Business
Resource Center
The goal for design was to look at how to evolve the Resource Center in a series of stages starting with what could be started tomorrow vs. what the future state would be with a more robust account-holder experience.
What most customers would see:
Hand picked Featured articles
Latest Webinar for them to sign up
The ability to search and browse articles and topics
The Result
The new Resource Center is more than a redesign—it’s a conversation starter.
On desktop, tablet, and mobile, the modular system delivers a consistent, modern UX.
Testing during rollout revealed how much flexibility mattered—proving the value of building a system that could evolve as the bank’s needs (and its clients’) change.
By transforming clutter into clarity, First Bank now presents itself as the go-to partner for family-owned businesses navigating growth, transition, and the future.
Why It Matters
For First Bank, the redesign wasn’t just about cleaning up a website. It was about aligning digital presence with brand promise. By guiding family business owners with useful resources and thoughtful experiences, First Bank strengthened its role as a trusted advisor—both online and off.