~/reese/work/north-coast-bjj
Sports-Club-Funnelling-Site · Client-project · 2025-2026
Converting Potential User Nerves Into Sign-Ups For A New BJJ Gym
Pro bono work redesigning North Coast's local business website by building trust signals and funnelling users to class sign-ups.
- Role
- Solo Product Designer
- Timeline
- Seven Months · Nov 2025 - Apr 2026 & Jul 2026
- Tools
- Figma · Framer · Claude Code · Linear
92
SEO score evaluation from Lighthouse on mobile
50
forum enquiries in the first 30 days of the site
227
Unique users visited the site in the last 30 days
Context
Helping a Local Business
North Coast Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is a local club that opened within the last three years on a shoestring budget, and Coach Dan has ambitions to expand it in the future. Upon deciding that I wanted to help a local business succeed, he gave me a simple brief:
- Get New Sign-ups - In order to justify the pricing, the site would need people to actually sign up for classes
- Reasonably Cheap - The monthly cost of the site had to be under £20pm
- Easy to Maintain - As a layman, Coach Dan wanted an easy way to maintain his new site
- MVP by Christmas - The earliest build needed to be completed by Christmas to maximise holiday sign-ups
Solution
Site Structure and Trust building
To get new sign-ups, I needed to understand the barriers to entry for potential members. To do this, I conducted user research and testing, using qualitative data to inform design choices.
User Interviews
Through user testing with a variety of participants from within the club and outside the club, of differing ages and genders, I found three findings that influenced the design and structure of the site:
“I was anxious but Dan's way of running (the) class made me feel safe”
- Participant B
Community Spirit
People within the club expressed how highly they value the community spirit within the club and how the community was one of the most influential factors swaying them to join after their free trial class
Social Proof for Women
Although social proofing matters to everyone, the female participants highlighted it as very important. Seeing other women in the space would ease fears that the club might be overly masculine and a barrier to entry.
Previous Martial Arts Experience
Most of the people interviewed from the club had previous experience in other forms of martial arts, stating that the most important information such as what the club atmosphere is like, and the practicalities like class times and location.
Funnelling Users Through Trust Signals
Competitor research showed a lack of social proof and information designed to put potential sign-ups at ease. With the hero section pulling people in for more information, building user trust as they moved through the sign-up flow was crucial to encouraging sign-ups.
- Google Reviews - Presenting a tamper proof, high trust marker establishes legitimacy
- Ethos Section - Gives the user understanding of what the club is about
- Afilliations Section - Provides another layer of legitimacy through showing brand connections
- Pricing - Eliminating the fear of uncertainty by providing clear pricing guides
- Timetable - Once users know they can afford the classes, knowing if they can attend is next
Using Gestalt Principles and Novelty
Research showed that many of the competitors' websites made the booking process clinical and more complex than it needed to be. To funnel users into signing up or enquiring, I decided to implement a new approach that would help users remember times more easily.
Reducing Complexity
Competitor websites mostly used the same clinical looking calander booking plugin for their site, with multiple sessions of sometimes differing martial arts. By limiting complexity it reduces choice overload allowing the users to fetch the information quicker by taking into consideration Miller's Law by only having 5 days, whilst making the site some more unique.
Colour Chunking
Colour chunking by using the colours of BJJ's belt system for each day allowed for information to be easier and quicker to understand with common regions. It also added some fun on brand uniqueness with the novelty helping users remeber class times better.
Build
Designed in Figma, Built in Framer
Research for this project showed that many web builders (Webflow, Wix & Squarespace) have similarly priced entry points, so we chose Framer for these key reasons:
Reasonable Entry Price Point
Priced at £8 per month, Framer provided everything that was needed, coming in slightly cheaper than the competition: Wix £9/month, Webflow £11.50/month & Squarespace £12/month.
Figma to Framer Translation Layer
Using the Framer Plugin in Figma allowed me to translate my designs into Framer more easily than other web builders. It would also bring the added benefit of not purchasing Framers subscription plan till later in the timeline.
Great Built in SEO Optimisation
Improved search engine optimisation would help NC BJJ rank higher in search results, increasing the number of unique visitors.
Framers Easy to Use GUI
The Framer GUI inside the app is easy to use and similar to Figma, making it easier for the client to use after handover.
Utilising Framers “In Page Editing” Capabilities
Experimenting with converting Framer designs into Framer code components taught that custom components could utilise Framer's editing tool on the live site. After speaking with Coach Dan during a bi-weekly check-in, he told me he didn't feel comfortable using the Framer app. So I decided the time trade-off of converting all the sections into Framer Components was worth it for the guardrails it added to live-site editing.
Reduced Scope for the MVP
Due to the time constraints (2 months from design to launch) on the minimum viable product, it was decided that the scope would be reduced by:
Homepage Only
Focusing only on the homepage, let me ensure the basics were done correctly. It meant that, rather than doing half measures, the accessibility and main functions were done correctly and on time for Christmas.
No Animations for the MVP
One of the main concerns was animating the carousel hero section; this would take time away from other, more important areas of the build, such as pricing and the timetable. So I used a single static image.
User Testing after MVP launch
Ideally, once the site had been moved from Figma to Framer, I would have conducted some more user testing; however, this was pushed back till after Christmas and the MVP launch.
Outcome
A User Flow That Gets Sign-ups
“Reese went above and beyond my expectations of what the site could be, im really happy with it”
- Coach Daniel Havelock
50
forum enquiries in the first 30 days of the site
92 Score
SEO score on lighthouse for mobile
No. 1 Website
On Google search results for bjj clubs in the local area
227
Unique users visited the site in the last 30 days
Increased Sign-ups
The website's impact was immediate: many new potential members signed up for free classes, and some even decided to stick with Dan and NC BJJ. Club members also shared their opinions and loved the new website because it highlights the community spirit.
Framer was the right choice
Many of Framer's features, including its competitive pricing, have significantly improved SEO compared to the previous site, and Framer's “In-page” editing makes it easy for Coach Dan to update his site and for me to experiment with AI tools with code components.
Full Site Launched by March
Soon after the MVP, we launched additional site pages, including an About page highlighting the club's timeline and more information about Coach Dan, further reducing anxiety for potential sign-ups. The photo gallery soon followed, easing many women's fears by letting them see other women participating in the sport.
Overall, I'm happy with the site, as it ticks all the boxes Coach Dan wanted for the project. There was one unforeseen effect of using a third-party form for sign-ups, and that affected the bounce rate results for the site because it could not be tracked properly, which raised the bounce rate and limited my ability to judge how effective the site has been.
Reflection
Things I would Change or Improve
Although overall I am quite pleased with my first real product design project, there is always room for reflection and improvement of my designs and process.
Using Code Inside Framer
Creating custom code components was a great idea and worth exploring, but because of the code's nature, not having CSS files creates long, unmanageable code that is unnecessary otherwise. If I were to do the site again, I would build it myself with AI to allow for more control and cleaner code.
Reduce The Bounce Rate
Coach Dan wanted to implement a third-party form, which increased the bounce rate. The form didn't work as intended, and he asked me to return to my original idea of a WhatsApp button on the sign-up page. Moving forward, I will push back on ideas that I don't think will work.
Scope Creep
As a new designer, you feel there is always room for more polish and refinement; however, knowing when to stop matters, so in the future, having a clearer idea of what “finished” looks like will be important for me.