BUSINESS STRATEGY & DESIGN CONSULTING
Transforming the digital experience for a jungle expedition and certification business
Jungle Guides International (JGI) is a leader in wilderness medicine, expedition leadership, and jungle guide training. While the organization had earned an outstanding reputation in the field, its digital presence no longer reflected the quality of its programs and struggled to capture and convert leads.
THE OPPORTUNITY
The challenge wasn't simply to redesign pages, it was to rethink how the organization presented its value, connected with different audiences, and used digital experiences to support long-term business goals. I was brought in to look beyond the website itself and how to drive conversion.
THE CHALLENGE
Like many growing organizations, the business had evolved quickly and organically over time
PAINPOINTS
Visitors struggled to understand which courses were right for them
How certifications connected
What made JGI different from other outdoor education and certification providers
Marketing efforts were fragmented
Messaging varied across channels
No clear digital journey guiding users from curiosity to enrollment (lead generation strategy)
Rather than approaching this as a website redesign, I treated it as an experience strategy challenge, aligning business objectives, user needs, and digital touch points into a cohesive system.
New programs, certifications, and experiences had been added as the business expanded, resulting in a website that reflected the organization's internal structure rather than the needs of prospective students.
DECISION 1
Reposition the business before designing the website
Before creating wireframes or visual designs, I focused on understanding the business itself.
Through stakeholder workshops, competitive analysis, audience research, and a review of existing marketing performance, I identified several opportunities that would influence every design decision that followed.
STRATEGIC INITIATIVES
Defined distinct audience segments for local and international markets
Clarified organizational positioning and value proposition
Developed messaging tailored to different customer motivations
Restructured the organization's service offerings into a logical certification pathway
Established a scalable content strategy for future growth
This strategic work shifted the conversation from "What should the website look like?" to "How should the organization communicate its value?"
WHY THIS MATTERED
By aligning the business strategy with user needs first, every subsequent design and marketing decision had a clear purpose. The website evolved from a collection of pages into a strategic platform that supports growth.
Want to dig deeper into this work? Learn more
DECISION 2
Design experiences around how people actually make decisions
With the strategic foundation in place, I redesigned the digital experience around user goals rather than the organization's internal structure.
Navigation, content, and page layouts were simplified to help prospective students quickly understand available programs, compare certification pathways, and confidently choose their next step.
EXPERIENCE IMPROVEMENTS
Simplified navigation and information architecture
Redesigned course discovery and comparison experiences
Improved mobile usability and accessibility
Strengthened visual hierarchy and readability
Created scalable page templates for future programs
Enhanced trust through storytelling, instructor profiles, and authentic imagery
Meet users where they already communicate
Research revealed that communication preferences differed significantly between audiences.
Rather than forcing every visitor through the same contact journey, I introduced multiple communication pathways, allowing users to choose the channel that felt most natural to them.
International visitors were comfortable completing inquiry forms and corresponding through email, while many local users preferred to ask questions through WhatsApp before committing to a course.
For local audiences, WhatsApp became a prominent call-to-action, enabling real-time conversations in both Spanish, Portuguese, and English. This reduced friction, reflected local communication norms, created a more personal connection between prospective students and the JGI team, and drove conversion.
WHY THIS MATTERED
Reduced barriers to asking questions
Increased accessibility for local audiences
Supported multilingual communication
Created a more human, trust-based customer experience
Demonstrated a user-centred approach by adapting the experience to different audience behaviours rather than expecting everyone to interact the same way
Goal driven homepage for quick discovery and action
Simplified navigation and information architecture
Participant experiences from various backgrounds and career goals to help inform decisions
Personal stories and instructor profiles to build trust
DECISION 3
Build a digital growth engine and system
The website became the foundation of a broader digital ecosystem rather than a standalone marketing asset.
Every digital touchpoint from search and social media to landing pages and conversion pathways, was intentionally connected to create a consistent customer journey.
Marketing & Growth Strategy:
SEO-driven website architecture
Content strategy designed for organic discovery
Landing pages aligned to user intent
Instagram content strategy and storytelling
Conversion-focused calls-to-action and assets
Analytics planning and performance measurement
Ongoing optimization recommendations
Multi-pronged partnership strategy
By treating marketing and user experience as one connected system, the website became a scalable growth platform instead of a static marketing brochure.
Clarified course information and built meaningful conversion interactions
Partnerships that bring together an international jungle community and nurture local markets
Lead Generation Assets:
Course Guide(s) & Career Guide(s)
Content & Storytelling:
Instagram Posts
Content & Storytelling:
Pre-Launch Week Instagram Teaser
Content & Storytelling:
500+ Instagram Followers Celebration
THE RESULTS
The transformation delivered measurable improvements
Beyond the metrics, the project established a scalable digital foundation capable of supporting new certifications, expanding into new markets, and continuously improving the customer experience.
Results measured and shown are based on a six-month before transformation and one-month post-launch.
WEBSITE PERFORMANCE HIGHLIGHTS →
17.4%
INCREASE IN AVERAGE ENGAGEMENT TIME
Visitors are spending significantly longer engaging with the website.
96%
INCREASE IN ENGAGEMENT WITH EXPEDITION AND COURSE PAGES
Now among the highest-performing pages on the website, and a shift from general website browsing toward more structured exploration of the training pathways.
BOUNCE RATE REDUCED FROM
70.6% to 43%
The new simplified and streamlined homepage is retaining a substantially greater proportion of visitors and encouraging them to continue into the site rather than immediately leaving.
23%
INCREASE IN ORGANIC SEARCH VISIBILITY
41%
INCREASE IN ORGANIC TRAFFIC
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I take a small number of new engagements each year. If your challenge sounds like the work above, I’d love to hear about it.