USSSA Illinois

Web Development: “Fastpitch at it’s finest”

USSSA Illinois is a dive into the web development side of my skill set. USSSA Illinois is a business built in the softball world. This website was built with the goal of providing basic information, and directing visitors to other appropriate webpages. Additional goals included mobile-friendliness, speed, simplicity, and a top-tier feel.

After first establishing goals and a timetable for this project, a target demographic needed to be ascertained. Coaches, parents, and players in the fastpitch-softball world were identified as the prime candidates to use the site as a whole. As a result, the build-out needed to be intuitive for the wide age range of visitors as well as sleek to showcase the newly adopted branding.

Clear branding and imagery were used in constructing the homepage for the site. By leveraging a simple set of images and media, attention would then be re-focused more on the call-to-action (CTA) links. These links would then lead visitors deeper into the depths of the site. The homepage (not including the main row header) includes five simple CTAs, all linking a visitor within the site.

Further digging deeper into the guts of the site, pages were established as simple redirects or basic information troughs. Accordions were used heavily in condensing information onto single pages when documents and redirects were not utilized. In so doing, the site retains a mobile-friendly feel. With roughly 60% of visitors landing on the site via mobile devices, this construction styling was more than welcomed.

Aside from the target demographic, I was also tasked with developing a pages for sport umpires. Taking into account the necessity for simplicity in this group of visitors, the umpires page was developed with mobile-friendly view and off-site redirects for easier navigation. This was a welcome change from the previously difficult to navigate website. .

Lastly, a simple contact page was established for target demographic inquiries. With the site functioning primarily with informational as well as redirect roles, there were few places that a contact page redirect was placed within the site. The main row header, serves as the primary redirect point-of-contact for the site. Upon landing on the contact page, visitors have the option to submit a simple form for the site client to later access. Additionally, an accordion was utilized to mask client contact details while also providing an alternative to the form submission option.

All in all, I consider this web development project to be among my simplest as well as strongest. I find the re-brand associated with the website to convey a level of class that resonates with both the client as well as their clientele. I consider this site to be a standard for this particular section of the fastpitch-softball sanctioning industry.