New brand, new website - Here's how we did it
Along with our rebranding, it was also time to revamp our website. As an IT consulting company, we were able to implement the website ourselves from start to finish - from design to coding.
The project began with the decision to choose a content management system (CMS).
As a partner of Contentful, a modern headless CMS solution provider, it was easy to choose Contentful as our content management system, which had proved to be an excellent one.
Headless CMS means that the content management tool is not fixed to the website solely, but can be used to publish content on any front-end technology: mobile app, info board, e-commerce, etc. Even print. With Headless CMS you can create truly multichannel content publishing to any digital channel. A true marketer's friend!
Well planned is half done
Once the CMS was chosen, the website redesign continued with content planning. We created a content map of the main pages and sub-pages. The most important thing at this stage was to think about what we wanted to communicate about us.
Based on the content map, our UX designer Nirmal created a user experience plan for us on how the pages are navigated and how the logic works.
After the user experience plan, it was time to move on to the most delicious part of the website, the UI design aka user interface design. The UI design is responsible for the look and feel of the website, and how the elements and the website as a whole will look. The UI was designed by our designer Jeswin.
Once the user experience and user interface plan was complete, our accessibility expert carried out an accessibility assessment of the website. Based on this, we made further changes to make the website accessible for as many people as possible. This included optimizing font sizes and colour contrasts for readability.
From vision to reality
Based on the design, our developers took it from there to take the vision of the website into reality. Our Scrum Master Katja guided the developers' work and made sure that the project was moving forward to the finish line through sprints.
We successfully managed to launch the first version of the site in time for the brand launch, but development didn't stop there. The development of a website is never really over, as it needs to evolve not only in terms of content but also in terms of features to keep it up to date and serve changing needs.
Next, our website will pass under the tender care of our maintenance service Houston Care, which will take good care of updates and minor developments of the site. 💜
Lessons for the next website project
The best lessons come the hard way. You always learn from projects and there are things I would do differently next time. Here are the lessons I'm taking with me to the next website project.
Closer collaboration between designers and developers during the design phase. Visually cool things are not always practical to implement. Or at least they would take a lot of time and money to implement, and often website projects have a budget and a schedule.
Create as many reusable elements as possible - creates consistency, keeps the CMS simple, and saves time and money.
Rule of thumb: straight lines and symmetrical shapes are always easier to implement than asymmetrical complex shapes.
The customer/content producers should think about the needs in terms of component requirements down to the details - which fields are mandatory and which are optional? It takes some imagination but will save time and effort in the long run.
I would also make a separate list of all the different components needed: image + text, drop-down menu, table, etc. The components should be designed to serve the content as well as possible, so it's worth using your imagination here and considering all the different content needs.
To summarise, I would spend a good amount of time in the planning stage and do the design in as much detail as possible, so that there wouldn’t be a need for so many changes at the development stage. Of course, not everything can be foreseen and it’s good to leave room for flexibility as needs and opinions change.
If a website renewal is on your team’s agenda, we would be happy to help you plan and implement it.
The end result of our new website is in front of your eyes. Browse and get inspired!
