Case Studies
Case study: United Press International
United Press International (UPI) is a premier news agency that needed a variety of online products to launch their new business-to-business website. The website goal was to help sell UPI's news and photo licensing products. In addition, the website needed to appeal to a global audience and each region's visual, navigational and language preferences.
The final design used UPI's signature colors (blue, white and gray) and kept cultural sensitivities in mind while employing simple, sophisticated visuals with consistent navigational elements to cue the user. The home page features products prominently at the top of the page and uses Flash animation with photographic montages to communicate the depth of content, bringing the eye to the products area.
"Their design services were extraordinary," says UPI's Marketing Manager Adrianna Avakian. "They exceeded expectations."
"We're probably the first Flash site in the world that supports Arabic," says Avakian. "Siteworx just refused to accept that it couldn't be done and, because of that, it was done."
The website successfully integrated with UPI's ACT database for seamless back-office functionality. And all users found they could upload images and format text as easily as they were accustomed to using word processing programs.
"I found that Axiom was a good front-end system for someone with no HTML experience and no technology background," says Avakian "It was very easy for our developers to pull in objects and allow content managers to edit them. The WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) interface was intuitive and easy to use. People were embracing the new site at all levels of the company."
"They did everything they said they could. And more. Our users worldwide are up on the site and pleased with how it works. They got the job done," Avakian concludes.
Design
United Press International's website is different from a "Their design services were extraordinary." Adrianna Avakian
Marketing Manager, UPI
consumer news destination and therefore needed a different, more appropriate visual look. Siteworx recommended a design with a global look and feel that still fit within the new UPI brand image. Given that many users are non-US, Siteworx designed the visuals to be technically savvy with simple visual navigation.Marketing Manager, UPI
The final design used UPI's signature colors (blue, white and gray) and kept cultural sensitivities in mind while employing simple, sophisticated visuals with consistent navigational elements to cue the user. The home page features products prominently at the top of the page and uses Flash animation with photographic montages to communicate the depth of content, bringing the eye to the products area.
"Their design services were extraordinary," says UPI's Marketing Manager Adrianna Avakian. "They exceeded expectations."
Technology
UPI re-opened their Beirut bureau in 2004 to provide immediate coverage of events in the Middle East. Content is provided in Arabic, which needs to be supported on the website. The problem was, no one knew if Flash technology would support Arabic language content. In fact the Macromedia people, developers of the Flash technology, weren't terribly optimistic."We're probably the first Flash site in the world that supports Arabic," says Avakian. "Siteworx just refused to accept that it couldn't be done and, because of that, it was done."
The website successfully integrated with UPI's ACT database for seamless back-office functionality. And all users found they could upload images and format text as easily as they were accustomed to using word processing programs.
"I found that Axiom was a good front-end system for someone with no HTML experience and no technology background," says Avakian "It was very easy for our developers to pull in objects and allow content managers to edit them. The WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) interface was intuitive and easy to use. People were embracing the new site at all levels of the company."
Process
UPI has unique content collected by UPI's journalists and photographers. The visual design features their works both to stimulate the visual look of the website and to promote the news products with a dynamic photo library organized by interest and user selection. Keeping the content managers in mind, uploaded gallery photos are automatically resized to fit each page to keep page designs crisp and uncluttered."They did everything they said they could. And more. Our users worldwide are up on the site and pleased with how it works. They got the job done," Avakian concludes.
