Digging Deeper to Reimagine a Website Experience

STRATEGY

A half-day strategy workshop with Doe Run’s leadership team, and their public relations partner helped identify and prioritize core audiences and determine key business goals for the site. The primary goals became attracting potential employees, integrating content from multiple sites into single, cohesive and fully-responsive website, improving the user experience and simplifying site maintenance for Doe Run and its partners. To address these objectives, Obata helped execute on the following strategies:

• Provide greater visibility to a wide range of Doe Run career opportunities as well as incorporate employee photos and testimonials
• Improve overall user experience with improved site architecture and updated SEO-friendly content and imagery
• Simplify backend site management by leveraging the intuitive WordPress platform

DESIGN

Close collaboration with the client and their PR partner throughout the planning process, helped lay the groundwork for a successful design solution. Our phased design approach included wireframing, rapid prototyping and A/B testing to quickly develop:

• A clear, organized global site navigation that was easy-to-navigate across all devices. Content is easy to share through a variety of social channels.
• Two robust templates that would provide the backbone of the site. Development of a single dynamic page and post templates accommodated content variables with design flexibility, while addressing core functionality needs. At launch, more than 90 percent of the 150-pages were populated using these two templates.
• A comprehensive Sustainability Report which provides quick access to CEO letter, stories regarding social, environmental and economic updates, GRI performance data and index, management’s approach to GRI issues and new photography (see below).
• Seafab Metals Company web page consolidates previous website content into a single page and integrates into the overall site architecture while retaining its own brand. Refreshed content, new photography (see below), and logo gave the subsidiary a much-needed visual facelift.
• Calls-to-action that provided clear paths for visitors to find or download additional information on relevant topics

RESULTS

At the onset, Obata and Doe Run determined key business goals for the website, which included: attracting potential employees, improving the user experience and simplifying site maintenance for Doe Run and its partners. As part of our digital services, Obata helps maintain and optimize performance for clients to ensure success long after project completion.

Our responsive solution focused on improving UX and UI experience coupled with valuable and relevant content. Six months after launch, positive metric trends indicate that our solution is satisfying Doe Run’s website business goals. Newly integrated content – the Sustainability Report and Seafab Metals Company – landed in the top 10 pageviews for the site. Other key trends: