Category: Case Studies

Great digital products don’t start with code — they start with a question. For GuessTheBreed.org, that question was: What if you could turn a fun guessing game into a meaningful way to learn about dog breeds, while also raising awareness and funding for rescue dogs and shelters?

That question sparked the concept. What followed was a creative, technical, and strategic journey that transformed a simple idea into a fully functioning interactive website. Here’s how the GuessTheBreed.org project came to life — from rough sketches to custom code and, finally, to its first visitors.

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It All Starts with a Sketch: Brainstorming and Ideation

The earliest stages of GuessTheBreed.org were refreshingly low-tech — just pencils, paints, paper, and an open mind. The team kicked things off with a collaborative brainstorming session, tossing around ideas for features, content, and visual style. The goal: create a fun, educational experience that would work on desktop and mobile, and be accessible for all ages.

Initial sketches featured concepts like:

• A “Guess the Breed” photo quiz
• Instant feedback with breed facts
• A leaderboard or scoring system
• Call-to-actions encouraging users to adopt or learn more about the featured dogs

From these sketches, a rough idea of the site layout began to emerge: a homepage that invites users to start the game, followed by a series of breed-guessing challenges with quick results and shareable links.

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From Concepts to Clickable Mockups: Wireframing & UX Testing

Once the sketches were finalized, it was time to turn the vision into something digital. Using tools like Figma and Adobe XD, the team created wireframes — skeletal layouts showing where elements like buttons, images, and text would live.

Two distinct mockups were developed:

• Mockup A: A minimalist layout with a strong focus on large images and simple buttons
• Mockup B: A more playful, card-based design with rounded corners and bright accents

Before choosing one, both designs underwent usability testing. Test users interacted with each prototype while tools like Hotjar and Google Optimize tracked clicks, scroll depth, time-on-page, and drop-off points. The A/B test results were revealing:

• Mockup A had better engagement on mobile and faster task completion times.
• Mockup B received higher visual appeal ratings but slightly more user confusion.

In the end, Mockup A was selected for its clarity, ease of use, and strong performance in usability analysis.

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Bringing the Vision to Life: WordPress, Custom Code & CSS Magic

With the structure approved and user flows tested, the site moved into development. GuessTheBreed.org was built on WordPress to enable easy content management and scalability — but don’t mistake it for a cookie-cutter theme.

The front-end was heavily customized using bespoke CSS to ensure a unique visual style that matched the brand’s personality: modern, playful, and inclusive. Buttons, animations, transitions, and responsive layouts were all crafted with care.

Behind the scenes, custom PHP powered the game mechanics:

• A logic engine randomized dog images and verified breed guesses
• Scoring was calculated in real-time
• Breed facts were dynamically loaded using a structured data API

The integration of WordPress with tailored backend functionality allowed GuessTheBreed.org to maintain both flexibility and functionality — a site that was easy to manage, but powerful under the hood.

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Prepping for Launch: Marketing Materials & Promotion

As development wrapped up, the focus shifted to launch readiness. A strong product needs a strong debut — and that means building excitement before the official release.

The marketing team created a package of promotional materials:

• Social media teaser graphics (formatted for Instagram, Facebook, and X)
• Short explainer videos showcasing how the game works
• GIFs and memes designed to encourage sharing

To build buzz and gather early feedback, the team planned a soft launch strategy:

• Select influencers and dog-related groups were invited to try the site early
• A small paid social media campaign targeted dog lovers and pet adoption communities
• A newsletter sign-up was added to collect early user emails and feedback

This phase was all about learning, refining, and optimizing before opening the site to a broader audience.

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Final Thoughts: Digital Experiences that Delight

What began as a simple idea — a fun game about dog breeds — became a carefully designed digital experience with real purpose. From hand-drawn sketches to A/B-tested wireframes, and from custom PHP development to pixel-perfect CSS, every step of the GuessTheBreed.org journey was grounded in intention, creativity, and user-centered design.

As the site continues to evolve, so too will the experience. New features, more dog breeds, and deeper integration with shelters are on the roadmap — but the core mission remains the same: to engage, educate, and inspire through a uniquely interactive digital journey.

Whether you’re building a quiz app, an eCommerce site, or a brand-new platform, remember: the most powerful websites start with empathy, curiosity, and a clear vision. Design with heart, build with purpose — and you’ll transform ideas into digital experiences that truly connect.

A Case Study

When it comes to building a brand from scratch, especially in a sensitive field like audiology, success lies in balancing two key ideas: professional credibility and emotional connection. That was the challenge presented to our team when an audiologist starting her own private practice came to us with a simple request: “I like parts of this competitor’s site… but beyond that, I trust you.”

With full creative control and just a spark of inspiration from the client, we set out to create a brand and website that would resonate deeply with families, position the clinic as a trusted local practice, and lay the digital foundation for growth. What followed was a multi-layered process of strategy, storytelling, design, and development — and the result is HearingAdvantage.net, a beautiful and functional website tailored to the practice’s mission and audience.

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Listening First: Understanding the Brand’s Challenge

Our client was launching a new audiology clinic, specializing in auditory processing disorder (APD) testing and treatment — particularly for children and families. She wanted the site to reflect the warmth and personal attention she brings to her work, while also instilling confidence in her clinical expertise. In short, the question we set out to answer was:

How do we design a brand and site that communicate the professionality expected from a medical practice, as well as the personal touch of a boutique clinic helmed by a sensitive and friendly practitioner?

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Color: More Than Just Aesthetic

Our first task was to define a color palette that spoke the language of both professionalism and compassion. After exploring a range of combinations, we settled on a triadic palette composed of:

• Soft pink and gentle lavender: Evoking calmness, warmth, and approachability — perfect for a practice that welcomes children and nervous parents.
• Austere blue: Adding balance, credibility, and the clinical edge expected from a healthcare provider.

Color plays a critical role in brand recognition and emotional perception. Research consistently shows that colors influence behavior and memory — so picking the right palette is as much a strategic decision as it is a creative one. The tones we chose aren’t just visually appealing — they support the emotional goals of the site: trust, care, and calm.

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Identity in a Shape: Designing the Logo

With color locked in, we moved on to the logo design, which had to be instantly recognizable, symbolically relevant, and scalable across digital and print platforms.

We designed a spiral emblem, inspired by the inner ear’s cochlea — a subtle nod to both human anatomy and auditory science. Its shape resembles a stylized human ear, subtly forming the outline of an ear canal. Rendered in our pink-purple gradient, the logo feels organic, soft, and human — never sterile.

A logo is the flag a brand flies — and great logos embody identity at a glance. In the case of HearingAdvantage.net, it communicates science, care, and connection all in one symbol.

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Building on a Proven Platform: Why WordPress?

With the brand taking shape, we turned to development — and for the website’s foundation, we chose WordPress, the world’s most widely used content management system (CMS). As of April 2025, WordPress powers over 43.5% of all websites — that’s about 521 million websites, according to WPZOOM.

Why WordPress? Several reasons:

• Reliability: It’s a battle-tested platform with constant updates and support.
• Flexibility: It supports custom development while staying accessible to non-developers.
• Ease of use: Our client wanted the ability to edit pages, publish blog posts, and make basic content changes herself — all without touching code.

We believe WordPress empowers clients. It’s not just a tech choice — it’s a collaborative strategy that puts content control in the hands of the business owner.

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The Theme and Customization: Twenty Twenty-Five as a Launchpad

We selected Twenty Twenty-Five, the newest default WordPress theme (and one of the most widely adopted, now powering over 1.4 million websites), as the foundation for the build. It’s:

• Responsive by default, ensuring flawless function on mobile — a must for modern users.
• Vertically scrolling, aligning with one of the client’s few specific requests.
• Accessible and fast, with a clean structure ideal for custom styling.

Using custom HTML and CSS, we heavily modified the theme to reflect the brand identity we were building — adjusting everything from typography and layout spacing to navigation elements and hover states. This blend of design and code allowed us to maintain performance and responsiveness while giving the site its unique look and feel.

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Images That Speak to the Audience

Images aren’t just decoration — they’re storytelling tools. We selected visuals that would resonate with our audience: parents, caregivers, and families navigating the challenges of auditory processing issues in children.

First, we developed a library of custom audio spectrograms, using Python to visualize sound. These scientific-yet-beautiful graphics act as subtle thematic motifs throughout the site — reinforcing the idea that this clinic is grounded in real science.

Then, we curated a collection of softly tinted, empathetic images of children listening intently or being evaluated for hearing problems. The imagery strikes an emotional chord — signaling that this is a place of care and expertise.

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Guiding the Journey: Strategic calls-to-action (CTAs) and Lead Capture

To ensure the site converts visitors into leads, we designed a clear content flow:

• Pages end with compelling CTAs like “Read More” and “Contact Us.”
• The layout subtly funnels users toward the Contact page, which features a simple form to capture names and emails.
• This not only provides the practice with potential patient leads, but opens the door for targeted email follow-ups and future marketing campaigns.

The CTAs are strategic but soft, inviting interaction without pressure — a tone that aligns with the brand’s sensitivity and professionalism.

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Final Thoughts: The Site as a Living Brand Asset

Though the client is still finalizing copy and refining services, the site’s framework and functionality are fully built — and belong entirely to the client. What we’ve delivered is more than a website. It’s a living brand asset, designed with care and strategy to support business growth, trust, and community connection.

HearingAdvantage.net stands as a powerful example of creative problem solving in action — where branding, technology, and empathy come together to create something that truly speaks to its audience.