MCS (Mueller Computer Service) sells and implements Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software solutions to small and medium-sized manufacturing companies. MCS had a site in place, but it was more of a domain "holding" screen, than a functional, useful website. Some key issues with the previous design were:

• The contact information was placed at the bottom of the screen and not readily found.

• The links drove visitors out of the site. Once out, they may not return.

• There were no Meta tags within the code, rendering the site virtually invisible to search engines.

• The look and feel of the design was amateurish and didn't properly brand and position the company.

During our initial meeting, I gathered names of competitors, suppliers and customer types. From there I began the discovery phase, researching the audience, the competition and potential design styles. Prior to putting pencil to paper, I try to get a firm grasp on the type of person we'll be addressing with the site. I created a profile of a typical MCS client, fictitiously called Mr. Smith. Here's the profile:

• Mr. Smith is 55, married, and is the President/CEO of a successful $25 million manufacturing enterprise. He holds a bachelor degree and is very savvy about his industry.

• He uses a Windows-based computer at work and surfs the web with a recent version of Internet Explorer. He's been using a computer since the early '90s and is pretty adept. His work connection is a fast T-1 line. At home, he still uses Windows and connects via a cable modem.

• Since he has more to do in less time, he needs to get on the Web, find what he needs, get off and move on to other tasks. Although he's not fluent in design, he appreciates ease of use and content that focuses on what's important to him.

• However, given the critical nature of his ERP decision, he's committing a significant amount of time to research options.

• Smith is upgrading from a previous ERP and understands the importance of getting it right this time.

In researching competitive companies, I found there is a load of ERP and CRM providers servicing small, large and monolithic companies. We needed to find some differentiating factors.

BEFORE:

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