Canonical

Revamping ubuntu.com home

Repositioning Ubuntu as enterprise Linux for everyone

Timeline

May → October 2026

Role

UX designer and project lead

Team

Visual designer, developer, content writers, executive stakeholders

Scope

Analytics, benchmarking, usability testing, project management

Overview

I led UX work for the redesign of the ubuntu.com homepage - from analytics and benchmarking to defining success metrics and usability testing. I managed delivery timelines across teams. Our visual designer led the UI work.

The ubuntu.com homepage before and after the redesign, side by side

Research

Users weren’t reading the page - they were passing through it

To understand how users were currently using the home page, I analyzed CrazyEgg heatmap and session recordings and Google Analytics. I found 3 main ways users were using the homepage:

A cursor heading straight for the ubuntu.com navigation bar
A wayfinding tool: A quarter of our users clicked on the navigation bar immediately. They weren’t engaging with the content - proven through engagement times which were under half the site-wide average.
A cursor clicking the green Get Ubuntu button
A bridge to download pages: A majority of visitors went to a download or desktop product page, either directly or within their session - signaling that this was a primary action the homepage supports.
An exploration tool: A smaller portion of users scrolled through the page - changes should be targeted to this group. They’re engaging with featured marketing pieces, links to Ubuntu Pro, and security notifications.

Success metrics

Ensuring the rebrand improves the overall page experience

While the project was driven primarily by a need for a visual rebranding, I wanted to ensure our redesign went beyond that. Equipped with my research, I presented the current landscape to our primary stakeholders: the content team. We worked together to define what success looked like for this project.

MetricCurrentTarget
Engagement time Engagement time was under half the site-wide average Increase engagement time by 30-50%. We should increase engagement, yet acknowledge that a percentage of users will still primarily use the home page as a wayfinding tool.
Navigation path Majority of our site visitors went to a download or desktop product page, either directly or within their session As a primary action on this page, this should be monitored to ensure there isn’t a drop-off following the updates.
Pro page visits A small minority of users went to Pro-related pages, either directly or within their session There is no particular target metric here, but we will aim to see an increase in the conversions that go to ubuntu.com/pro.
Install page visits A small minority reached install pages indirectly Though not a primary action, this should be monitored to ensure there isn’t a drop-off following the updates.
Qualitative observations N/A

In addition to the quantitative metrics, the usability tests on the design should evaluate whether:

  • A visitor with an intent to download can easily navigate to these links
  • Users come away with the intended impression of the content messaging - Ubuntu as an enterprise Linux for everyone, with a nod to our community brand values

The solution

Scanning beats reading: how we supported this user journey

During user testing, I found that users indeed used the homepage as a wayfinding tool, as some participants gravitated towards the navigation bar immediately or merely scanned headings for keywords of interest.

The primary CTA on the homepage - downloading Ubuntu - was highly discoverable, with participants rating it an average 4.9/5 for ease of finding download links.

The featured marketing section as a point of friction

During testing, the featured marketing section caused the most friction as users felt it was disconnected from surrounding content. In the first iteration, this section was presented as any other content section on the page, which confused users. To alleviate this, we added a “Featured” label to signal this was temporary, rotating content.

This finding led me to initiate a proposal for an additional project in the following roadmap to improve content guidelines for this banner across our two sites.

The redesigned featured section with a Latest label above the headline

Balancing enterprise, developer and everyday audiences

One of the biggest challenges we faced was balancing our messaging with different groups of users in mind. The home page attracts users from various backgrounds with different intents. With a heavy focus on enterprise messaging, we had to carefully balance our messaging to developers and end users without feeling overly technical to non-technical users. During our usability tests, I found that the animation in the hero was the most emotionally resonant element for developers, with one participant saying:

“This feels a bit more made for me”

The video carousel and rotating text section, with pieces of information targeted to different user groups, also captured a lot of attention.

Hero animation
Persona-centered carousel
Community videos

Impact

The page has recently gone up on ubuntu.com! Metrics to follow.

Learnings

Presenting research early and building success metrics early

I took the opportunity to share CrazyEgg web analytics and GA4 data early on as a way to involve stakeholders in agreeing on success metrics together, so we were synced on our definition of done for this project. This also helped our stakeholders have data points to reference in their process of refining and providing content for the page.