Research Leads the Development of Gecan’s New Site

We recently developed a new website for Gecan, an asphalt lab located in Acheson, AB. Gecan specializes in a number of asphalt-related services, including testing, mix design, blending, and formulation. Over the last few years their business and facilities have seen substantial growth, garnering a reputation as an industry leader with facilities and a knowledge base that go unparalleled by their peers. As is common with companies that grow at a rapid rate, Gecan’s website was simply unable to keep up.

Gecan’s staff are some of the most knowledgable people we’ve ever met. Their industry is a complicated one, but they know it inside and out. Their existing website, however, was very basic and did not reflect the level of expertise and knowledge that the team holds. Over the course of a number of months we studied everything we could about their industry, including the equipment found in their labs, the services they provide, and what their clients would be looking for in their site. After we were through with our meetings, the team at Gecan graciously lent us a library’s worth of books and manuals for further research, including a massive volume affectionately known around the lab as the “asphalt bible.”

The result of all of this research is a deceptively simple website. The content is divided into carefully thought out sections, so as to avoid any page being too heavy or confusing. To further relieve the site of complex, technical explanations, we used photographs to showcase the quality and quantity of Gecan’s machinery and the capabilities of their labs. We also added a glossary so that if a client still finds the information to be too complicated, he or she can look up the definitions of terms for clarification.

It was also important that we streamline some administrative processes to save time and energy for both the staff and customers of Gecan. A materials testing request form was added to the site to eliminate the need to handle requests and quotes over the phone. This means that staff don’t have to go back and forth between the phone and other tasks as often, and it also makes the test request process easier on customers because they can submit requests on their own time, without having to make phone calls or create paperwork.

Research is always a key part of our process, but sometimes it’s necessary to invest a little extra time and energy into it. In order to make a complex subject simple for others to understand, you first have to have a thorough understanding of it. Thanks to this approach, Gecan now has a site that reflects their status as leaders in the asphalt industry.

Are you taking the time to get to know your clients’ industries? If you’d like to discuss the benefits of industry research, give us a call. We’d love to share some ideas.

Posted by Ramona on January 22, 2012 in announcements

A Day Made of Glass

“Can you imagine organizing your daily schedule with a few touches on your bathroom mirror? Chatting with far-away relatives through interactive video on your kitchen counter? Reading a classic novel on a whisper-thin piece of flexible glass?”

These are the questions Corning asks viewers of “A Day Made of Glass” video. The company, which supplies the glass for iPhone screens and other high-profile pieces of technology, produced the video as a promotional tool for their investors, but it went viral upon its release to YouTube.

And we can see why the masses would pick up on a video like this. It may be a marathon 6 minutes in length (unheard of for a viral video) and contain no dialogue, but the scenes of a family going through a day in their lives assisted by incredible pieces of interactive technology (all incorporated into Corning Glass, naturally) are pretty captivating.

But what we find the most fascinating about this video isn’t the electronic day planner on the bathroom mirror, the interactive kitchen counter, or any other individual piece of technology. What’s most intriguing is the bigger picture, the overall message of the video: that technology has the ability to not just become an important accessory in our lives, but to blend seamlessly into them. The products in the video are so adaptive and so intuitive that the consumers are able to use them however they want to. There is no going out of the way to accommodate the technology.

As amazing as modern technology is and as far as it has come, it still has a long way to go in terms of being truly user-friendly. We are fortunate to have all of the technological conveniences that we do, but we also have the potential to push them even further so that they truly enhance our experience. Sure, your laptop can store and play music, connect you to the web, log your appointments and schedules, and connect you to people around the world, but is it intuitive enough to know which function it should perform at any given time? Does it sync to your life or do you have to plan your life around it?

The Corning Glass video is an example of the mindset all companies should have. You might think your products or services are enhancing your customers’ lives, but do they adapt to how your customer wants to use them? Are they intuitive enough to be flexible?

While you’re mulling it over, check out Corning Glass’s “A Day Made of Glass”:

Posted by Ramona on January 12, 2012 in interactive, technology