Designing a More Professional, User-Centered Experience for GAO Tek Asia

Introduction

During my internship at GAO Tek Inc., I was given a meaningful challenge:

Redesign the GAO Tek Asia website — including the homepage, careers page, and individual job listings — to improve clarity, structure, and user engagement.

GAO Tek is a global supplier of fiber optics and test equipment, with clients across North America, Asia, and beyond. While their technology is cutting-edge, their website needed serious improvement in terms of layout, consistency, and user flow.

The Challenge

The existing GAO Tek Asia website felt cluttered, outdated, and lacked hierarchy. Key issues included:

• Confusing layout and dense text blocks

• No clear visual system or component consistency

• Difficult navigation for job seekers and potential clients

• Lack of trust-building visual cues (e.g., testimonials, badges, modern structure)

The biggest challenge?

I needed to balance corporate expectations and global branding guidelines — while still making the experience smoother and more user-centered.

Research & Discovery

Before jumping into design, I started with a comparative audit — reviewing both:

• The GAOTek.com global site

• The current Asia GAO Tek site )

• Competitor websites in the B2B electronics space

This helped me understand:

• What GAO Tek already had (strong product range, legacy credibility)

• What competitors did better (cleaner navigation, clearer CTAs, modern layouts)

• What users needed (easier job application flow, scan-friendly content, visual credibility)

I also received a design guideline from the company, which set guardrails on brand color, font, logo, and tone. It took around 2 weeks of back-and-forth before my proposed layout was approved.

My Role & Responsibilities

As a UI/UX Design Intern, I worked on:

• Conducting website audits and competitive analysis

• Redesigning the homepage, careers page, and job detail pages

• Following brand guidelines while introducing structure and visual hierarchy

• Presenting my work to supervisors for feedback and approval

• Preparing final screens for developer handoff

Design Goals

Create a professional and trustworthy first impression

• Simplify the navigation and highlight key product areas

• Improve the job application flow to attract more qualified applicants

• Make the content feel scannable, modern, and accessible

Before: The Original Homepage

The original homepage was content-heavy, with little visual hierarchy and unclear CTAs. It didn’t reflect the tech-forward, global brand GAO Tek aimed to be.

The Redesign Approach

I introduced a layout that felt structured, professional, and clean — keeping the content intact but improving its presentation.

Key changes included:

• Modular sections for company intro, product highlights, and trust signals

• Simplified navigation for Careers and Job Listings

• Cleaner typography, more whitespace, and visual consistency

• CTAs like “Ask an Expert” and “Apply Now” made more prominent

Redesigned Pages

Homepage

• Clearer intro to the company

• Visual badges and trust markers

• Content reorganized into digestible blocks

Careers Page

• Friendly, inviting intro

• List of job openings in card format

• Direct links to detail pages

Job Listing Page

• Structured layout for job details

• Strong CTA to apply

• Clean separation of sections (Responsibilities, Requirements, How to Apply)

What I Learned

This project taught me how to:

• Balance brand constraints with user needs

• Communicate effectively across design approval processes

• Keep B2B interfaces professional, yet approachable

• Use layout and hierarchy to make long-form content easier to digest

It was my first time designing for a real-world, global-facing company — and it showed me that even small UI changes can greatly improve the user experience.