Ishida Europe
How we helped Ishida Europe revitalise their online presence and consolidate a suite of websites
http://www.ishidaeurope.com
Introduction
Ishida Europe is a world leader in the design, manufacture and installation of complete weighing and packing line solutions. With headquarters in Birmingham, UK, they serve Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) with wholly-owned Ishida sales companies in 9 countries and committed agents and distributors in a further 15 countries.
With such a broad reach Ishida Europe are responsible for supporting no fewer than 12 localised websites in languages ranging from Czech and Romanian to Farsi and Arabic, in addition to the UK site. We were initially employed as a technical consultant to provide hosting, development and support for their suite of websites.
The challenge
Having developed half a dozen localised websites for Ishida, we turned our attention to the main UK site which was in need of an update. As the site had grown over time a significant drawback with the pre existing information architecture was identified in that it didn't allow for user friendly organisation and presentation of content. As more information was added to the site pages just grew longer and content looked increasingly clogged and inaccessible.
Our mission, therefore, was to refresh the look and feel of the main website, and to develop an information architecture that would support and accommodate further expansion.
The solution
A major redesign was carried out with the aim of revitalising the site. Our approach was to take the relatively conservative branding and create a leaner, friendlier user experience. Taking away the 'sharp edges', so to speak, and providing intuitive navigation.
The site's information architecture was reworked to organise content more intelligibly and to provide a more flexible structure that would allow for further expansion without impeding usability. A key element of this process was the addition of tabs to product pages. These group all information about each product according to type (general info, literature, news stories, video, etc.) and present it in a clear, user friendly manner, without overwhelming the user.
The appeal and usability of the homepage was greatly improved with the new design. Eye catching animations were developed and introduced to draw visitors in and provide quick overviews of key Ishida products; and direct access to important and timely information (such as latest news) is provided through clear links and text boxes.
To consolidate the localised websites under Ishida Europe's control a language bar was developed and incorporated across all sites enabling instant switching between any of the 13 languages available.
All of the improvements were implemented on top of Ishida's legacy Content Management System, with the site retaining the administrative back-end which staff were familiar with and saw no need to change. This enabled Ishida to take control of the new site right away without the need for re-training.
The outcome
The main Ishida Europe site now features a fresh, contemporary design rarely seen in this sector, elegantly presenting Ishida's complete range of weighing and packing solutions and guiding users through the information.
"The Cyber Media team were tasked with the re-design of all 13 Ishida websites, which was a very challenging project and involved some complex languages. The did so in a very professional manner and we were very impressed with the end result, which achieved some excellent feedback from our customers."
Deborah Douras
Marketing Literature & Website Manager
Ishida Europe
