After a couple months of planning and design, we recently rolled out our new Idea Works website. I wanted to take a moment to explain our goals with the new site and a little about the process we took for the refresh.
The previous version of our site was up since 2008. Our technology, product offerings, and personnel have changed quite a bit since then. We needed a new web presence to better communicate what we do, and more importantly, who we are.
More than anything, we wanted to do a better job conveying our personality through the site.
It’s easy for a technology company like us to appear dull and faceless. We don’t want you to visit our site and picture us sitting in a warehouse of cubicles. Idea Works is about a small team applying innovative technology in personal, pragmatic ways. We place a premium on the individual passions and skills of our team members.
With fewer than 10 employees, our strength lies in our approachability, personal service and responsibility. This is why our clients love to work with us.
Our previous site included the obligatory “About” page, and included only a general description of our company history and aims. It didn’t exactly scream: “You will love to work with us!!” So early on, we decided to feature the individuals on our team, front and center.
You can see this implemented on the current site, with a homepage headline that mentions our varied skillsets, a group photo of all our beautiful faces, and a more prominently featured About page (it’s no accident that it’s the first menu option).
The About page includes a more engaging narrative of what we do and value. We got some great employee photos taken by Dee Kern and gave each employee space to tell you about themselves.
We also made it easier for visitors to feel comfortable contacting us in a variety of ways. Most of our customer contact comes through email, phone, and Twitter, so we feature these connection points on our homepage. Many of our employees also posted links to their personal social media pages. We’d love people to connect with us on a personal basis, and follow what we’re up to. Much of our business comes from personal connections that spark new, exciting project ideas.
To this end, our website refresh includes a dedicated Contact page with a million ways to get in touch, and a handy map. Our previous site relegated this information to the footer.
We also revamped our “What We Do” page to better describe our current offerings in text analytics and social media work. Many of our customers find us through a specific product, like Globalpoint or SAGrader. But all our products/services are based on the same core technology. And we’re always interested in partnerships that leverage our unique abilities.
So we wanted this page to give you a basic sense of our technology, so you can let your mind run wild with possibilities. In the future, we’d like to add more specific examples of past projects to further stimulate your creativity.
In general, we tried to let our personality shine through a bit better in the style and copy of the new site. We work hard, but also have a lot of fun. I hope you get that sense when you visit the site.
We have plenty of updates in mind and hope to roll those out in the next few weeks. In the meantime, let us know what you think. Is there any information you’re having trouble finding? Anything we can explain better? Do you hate the color green?
