When the Indiana State Republican Party (INDGOP) approached Galvin, they were not satisfied with their current website. Navigation was difficult and the site was overall relatively disorganized and the site did not integrate with two major internal applications – Salesforce and RPort (INDGOP’s internal proprietary database). In short, INDGOP wanted something fresher, more vibrant, user friendly and navigable. They wanted a website where people could come and get information without a hassle, a website that better represented the INDGOP and the 92 counties.

Galvin sat down with the INDGOP and documented all of the functional, technical and design requirements so that no stone was left unturned. After the requirement process was completed it was decided by both Galvin and the INDGOP that the project would work best if done in phases. The first phase, the current website, would have the main components required to be fully functional along with 92 microsites for each of the Indiana Counties.  While the next phase could potentially have microsites for Candidates and Activists.

The main INDGOP and county websites now have an “Action Center” so that visitors have direct access to the information they want– the links are readily available on the homepage for immediate usage.  At the Action Center, the public can come to Join the Team to volunteer for State or County campaign tasks, write letters to the editor, search for talk radio stations and receive call-in advise, make a donation, get contact info for state and local officials and have access to the INDGOP Twitter and Facebook sites, all in one general hub.

Users can also now create their own MyIndianaGOP account and receive the News and local officials that are tailored to their county.

The County microsites were designed so that if an official running the site was suddenly unavailable for any number of reasons, the state has the ability to step in and run the site itself. If a user has an event that they would like to be included on the State INDGOP or a specific county’s website, the INDGOP and counties have the ability to receive these event submissions and add it to the corresponding website or disapprove it all with one click.  To eliminate dual data entry for the INDGOP and the Counties, Galvin was able to successfully integrate the Salesforce system and the RPort database into the website.  By providing these key integration points, Galvin has provided the INDGOP one point of data entry for more consistent data and more time to focus on other tasks.

During the process of building, we have trained the INDGOP personnel so that they will be able to run the site – and microsites – on their own. In the end, we have created a system that is not only immediately functional, but will be able to be sustained by the INDGOP on their accord. The result is a site that combines usability and interaction to create what should be a very successful online network for the INDGOP.

Post from: The Galvin Blog

Indiana State Republican Party Re-Design

Motion Type video for 51st Annual Grammy Awards ad campaign.

Following up on Gary’s post about the rigorous processes we go through in the course of a project and how project management is so important to this process, I wanted to touch on the subject of content and how important it is to design.

Content comes in many forms in the context of interface design. It gives users a sense of what the site is about through navigation, provides direction in the form of buttons, confirms actions inside interactive forms and can be seen as imagery together with main body copy. All of these forms of content are used to strengthen the overall user experience and give the site meaning and validity. 

So why is content important to design?
In the beginning of a project, content is considered to construct site-maps and put together functional diagrams. After that there can be a disconnect of what specific ideas and information the site needs to convey. Content can get pushed to the end of a project because the client wants to focus on the structure and overall project plan. This can eventually bring the project to a standstill. Designers need content at the beginning of the project because we use it to plan the way users interact with the site (wireframes), to create a consistent and useable hierarchy and most importantly, to make sure the information that will accomplish the client’s goals is presented in the best way possible. 

Solutions
So what are some things we can do to insure that content is given the attention it deserves? First of all, it is the job of the designer to educate the client and the project manager of the importance that content plays in the overall objective of the site. More specifically, we as a team can plan out the process in the early stages of the project so it has the best chance for success.

1. Initial Discussion
Before the wireframes are created, there should be a discussion over the content of the site that involves the client, copy writer, the designer and project manager. Ideally, this discussion should be in three parts:
a ) What content do we have and what are we using or throwing out?
b ) What are the new goals and what is the main message for the website?
c ) What imagery, charts or specific functionality do we need to help convey the new goals and new message?

2. Outline of Content for All Pages
A content outline of each page of the website should be created not only to keep track of what content is on-hand and what is still needed, but also so that all parties know what to expect when the website is developed. This insures smaller more-specific goals are met.

3. Internal Collaboration
A discussion should take place with project managers, developers and designers over what will be presented to the client in the initial comps.  What content can be used in the initial design comps to convey the meaning and functionality of each element? This communication will give designers the knowledge to best design for usability and in-turn will insure developers implement the interface correctly.
 
4. Content & Design Audit
After the design is implemented and content has been developed, an audit should be done for all pages of the site. This audit involves making sure the design is supporting the content and that the content is fresh and easily navigated. Is this page conveying what we intended? Do we need a different call-out to bring importance to a certain event? Is the homepage talking to the intended audience, and do we need a call-to-action? These are all questions that need to be answered before a site is launched.

Conclusion
Content is a key ingredient to building a successful website. It is important to the validity of the site as well as the usability and success of its design. Therefore, it should be addressed in the beginning of the design phase. Creating good content requires collaboration throughout the project with the client and development teams to insure all expectations are met and goals are reached.

Post from: The Galvin Blog

Better Content for a Better Experience

Search Engine Marketing:

• Andy Beal’s Marketing Pilgrim, feed
• Conversation Marketing, feed
• Daily SEO Tip, feed
• Dir Journal, feed
• GrokDotCom,feed
• Matt Cutts, feed
• Search Engine Guide, feed
• Search Engine Journal, feed
• Search Engine Land, feed
• Search Engine Watch, feed
• SEO by the Sea, feed
• SEOmoz, feed
• Techno Marketer, feed
• The Official Google Blog, feed

Web Development

• 456 Berea Street, feed
• A Source of Inspiration, feed
• Cre8pc, feed
• CSS Beauty, feed
• CSS Tricks, feed
• DevSnippets, feed
• Janko at Warp Speed, feed
• NETTUTS, feed
• Posh CSS, feed
• Script & Style, feed
• Signal vs. Noise, feed
• Sitepoint, feed
• The UX Booth, feed
• Usability Post, feed
• Woork, feed

Post from: The Galvin Blog

Web development blogs and search engine marketing blogs

We recently launched one of our newest projects, MyCarbonPledge.com. My Carbon Pledge is an initiative of the Indianapolis Zoo to inform the public about the deleterious effects of carbon gas emissions on our ecosystems and wildlife habitats. The zoo’s efforts to date have mainly centered on the polar bear. As the projections show, two thirds of their population will be gone by the year 2050 due to the loss of Arctic sea ice. MyCarbonPledge.com is at the heart of this campaign, allowing the community to become actively involved in fighting carbon emissions. My Carbon Pledge’s first launch was on Earth Day 2008 and promoted the switch of incandescent light bulbs to CFL bulbs. This first launch turned out to be quite a success with roughly 55,000 bulbs pledged for a total of 8,250,000 lbs of CO2 emissions saved. The zoo then came to us with a new campaign to continue this cause.

This resulted in the new, redesigned and restructured MyCarbonPledge.com. The goal for this year’s pledge was to get people to unplug their unused appliances, while still honoring last year’s pledge of switching to CFL bulbs. The idea was that even though you are not using the appliance there are still carbon gasses being emitted due to energy consumption while it’s plugged in, something that is known as “phantom power”. It is estimated that this simple step can reduce CO2 emissions by 1% and in turn further help sustain the Arctic sea ice and wildlife.

There were two main goals for the 2009 MyCarbonPledge website redesign: 1) market the new message and 2) redesign and reorganize the site to make it more usable. These goals would utilize web development standards, modern technologies and communication design.

By organizing the content better and streamlining the wireframe we were able to strengthen the overall usability of the site. The previous homepage had too much information and the hierarchy wasn’t clearly identified. The new design utilizes a grid system that clearly defines the different sections and allows the user’s eyes to move down the page with ease. The user can still pledge from the homepage as before, but the new pledge and login overlays allow for a cleaner interface. The idea being that the cleaner the interface, the more impact the call-to-action could ultimately have. The new design gives character to the brand evoking playfulness and personality. We created more contrast between the colors and used a dramatic background to give depth and create an environment for the site.

The different sections of the website were also streamlined. The green articles, resources and other links were not well organized in the sitemap. Therefore, users were not getting the information they needed. Thus more attention was paid to calling out these sections inside the site to help users get more excited about the entire campaign. Lastly, we implemented a social media strategy to help get their message out to the public.

The site launched on Earth Day 2009 and has already received 440+ pledges. This project has not only fashioned a business relationship at the Indianapolis Zoo, but is also something we are proud to be associated with. Pledge what you can, and we hope you enjoy the site.

Post from: The Galvin Blog

The New MyCarbonPledge.com

Post from: The Galvin Blog

Wordle is Pretty Cool

After every website project our internal team regroups to learn what went good and bad with the project and make improvements.  It has been a recurring problem that content becomes an issue for deployment.  In our most recent project for Hendricks Power we underestimated the amount of time it would take to migrate the content from the previous website to the new website.  Our project processes are now adjusted so that we budget time for content strategy and migration.  It just seems that content is that 800 lb. elephant that nobody wants to discuss but always becomes an issue.

When managing your web projects take content into consideration, put a variance for things that can go wrong and plan accuratly so it is not rushed at the last moment.

Lastly, remember, a website relationship does not end when the project is complete.  After launch put a plan in place so content, call-to-actions and designs can be manipulated for better success.

Post from: The Galvin Blog

Website Content Migration and Planning

Post from: The Galvin Blog

Twitter – I Bought Into It