Cactus Vacation Rentals is a vacation rental management company based in Arizona that provides property owners with stress-free management services and maximizes their rental income. The company wanted a website that reflected its brand values of professionalism, reliability, and transparency while showcasing its unique Arizona-inspired identity. The goal was to create a user-friendly, visually engaging, and high-converting website to attract property owners interested in their services.

Enhance Brand Identity: Create a design that aligns with Cactus Rentals’ professional yet approachable image while emphasizing its Arizona roots.

Balancing Professionalism and Approachability: The design needed to convey trust and expertise while maintaining a welcoming and friendly tone.

Standing Out: Many competitors in the vacation rental space have similar offerings, making it crucial for Cactus Rentals to differentiate itself visually and strategically.

Appealing to Dual Audiences: The website needed to cater to both property owners seeking management services and guests exploring vacation rentals.

Highlight Unique Selling Points: Emphasize the company’s core benefits, such as transparent pricing, reliable occupancy strategies, and stress-free property management.

Competitor Analysis: Examined competitor websites such as Airbnb, Vacasa, and Sonder to identify strengths and weaknesses.

Target Audience Insights: Conducted surveys and interviews to understand the needs of property owners and guests, focusing on trust, ease of use, and transparency.

Brand Analysis: Collaborated with the client to ensure the design reflected their core values and Arizona-inspired aesthetic.

Created low-fidelity wireframes to map out user journeys and content placement.

Developed interactive prototypes to test navigation and layout effectiveness for both desktop and mobile users.

Color Palette: Used a desert-inspired palette of green, beige, mustard yellow, and teal, reflecting the natural beauty of Arizona's landscapes, from its deserts to its sunsets, to evoke warmth and professionalism.

Typography: A serif font was chosen to reflect the visually appealing and distinctive aspects of the branding, while a clean sans-serif font was selected for the body text to ensure modernity and readability.

Imagery: Integrated high-quality visuals of Arizona landscapes and vacation homes to create an emotional connection with users.

Icons and Graphics: Designed custom icons to represent services like “Transparent Pricing” and “Hassle-Free Management.”

Conducted extensive usability testing to ensure intuitive navigation and optimal user experience.

Incorporated client and user feedback to refine visual elements and layouts before launch.

The old landing page was outdated and lacked competitiveness, suffering from contrast issues and an absence of text hierarchy. The buttons were vague and identical in appearance, leading to "Choice Overload," as described by Hick's Law. In this case, users were overwhelmed by the uniformity of the buttons and struggled to make a decision, undermining the website’s primary goal of converting property owners. To address this, I redesigned the buttons to be visually distinct and intuitive, guiding users toward the desired action: conversion.

Additionally, the homepage lacked personality, appearing bland with stock images and poor font and color choices that did little to reinforce Cactus Vacation Rentals' branding. In response to client feedback, I created a competitive and visually appealing landing page that incorporated original visual branding elements, such as sand waves and cactus, to reflect the agency’s core identity. This design was influenced by the "Aesthetic-Usability Effect," which states that aesthetically pleasing designs create positive responses in users, leading them to perceive the design as more functional. By combining these insights, I developed the ideal landing page to meet the agency’s needs.

Homepage:

Increased Conversions: The new website led to a 35% increase in inquiries from property owners within the first three months.

Improved User Engagement: Average session duration increased by 50%, and bounce rates decreased by 20%.

Enhanced Brand Perception: Client feedback highlighted the website’s professional yet approachable design.

SEO Performance: Blog content and optimized pages improved organic search rankings, driving a 40% increase in traffic.