Smith
The Story
Founded in 1984, Smith is a leading electronics distributor with over 15 locations worldwide. Smith manages, sources, and distributes electronic components that go into everything from phones and appliances and directional drilling systems. They have earned an outstanding international reputation for logistics, quality, and professional excellence. Smith’s suppliers include consumer electronics, automotive, medical, and aeronautics companies. Our initial investigation showed that we needed to create various focus groups to address different stakeholder concerns; sales, HR, and IT departments. We were able to customize a solution that was capable of addressing all concerns by redesigning the information architecture, acquiring needed content, and elevating the feel and user experience on the website.
Client Goals
Elevate Public Profile
Increase Competitive Advantage
Honor Culture & Heritage
Facilitate Consistent Communications
Differentiate From Other Similar Entities
Position the Organization as Global
Build a Sense of Pride & Belonging
Stand Out & Raise the Bar
Drive Deeper Engagement
Achieve Global Consistency
The client wanted a website that can showcase different divisions within their companies in an efficient manner without having to click through several menus and landing pages. Our solution was an Ultra-Menu which quickly provides a snapshot of their entire site structure. The user then has an easy way to access information that would otherwise impose an increased number of clicks. Looking into past analytics and researching further, we were able to rank the user’s intended destinations based on importance. Our research-based design creates a funnel to support user flow throughout the site.
Our research allowed us to discover the demographics of our target audience: middle-aged (45-55) who are final decision-makers within their respective companies. In response, smithweb.com was designed to promote a faster engagement and ease of access, both highly prized features by the target audience.
The client wanted to incorporate the brand colors in a more prominent way without making it look garish. This was a challenging task, as we also needed to showcase numerous images of the facilities, products, and employees at the same time. Our solution was to segment the content into different blocks that could more easily incorporate different colors and content types while maintaining elegance and sophistication. Our research showed that many of Smith’s visitors come from mobile devices. Therefore, we needed a design that could accommodate various screen resolutions. Even with the vast amount of information and content, this website was not only fully optimized for mobile but also could utilize the space available on even the largest desktop monitors. We used proven technologies to code our websites in the most efficient manner possible. Despite having a home page with considerable content and a slick full-screen design, we reduced server requests to a mere 56. This translated to faster loading times, which was especially important for Smith’s mobile users. Furthermore, in our ongoing quest to improve the user experience, most of the website’s animations relied on CSS technology, native to browsers, allowing for a smoother experience and consuming fewer computer resources.
We use the medium of web design and the principles that govern our psychology to deliberately evoke a sensory effect, persuading users to take specific actions that benefit them.
Our goal is to cultivate a multilayered communication that speaks to the responsive faculties of our being by using the domains and disciplines within content and design.