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Templates for web
When new owners took over a Toronto-based high-end travel company last year, they didn't believe they had the luxury of keeping its Web site.
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]
"We need to change this fast," Norman Howe, one of the partners of Horizon & Co. recalls thinking. The company's static site had been rarely updated, and boasted a downloadable PDF brochure.
However, it took five months of working with a Web developer before the new site went live, an effort which took an international journey itself.
It began with Howe, Horizon's creative director, and Markus Schale, its president, deciding to overhaul its products and marketing material of Horizon, which runs guided adventure tours through North and South America, Russia, Europe, Australia and Asia.
Howe wanted the Web site to mirror the new colour and style of the company's brochures and other material, and make it easy for his staff to update content.
To find a Web developer he turned to Horizon's recently hired IT management company, which recommended BonaSource, a Toronto applications company with global reach of its own: A 40-person development branch in Moscow.
Stresses usability
Headed by Dmitri Buterin, a Russian software engineer who came here three years ago to set up the company, it now has a staff of 15.
Not only are development costs lower in Moscow, he explains, but with the time difference work can be done overnight there and reviewed here the next day.
The company also stresses making Web sites user-friendly through analytics. "Usability is a cornerstone of what we are about," says Buterin.
"On 80 to 90 per cent of Web projects not enough attention is paid to usability. As a result they don't achieve the business results they should."
Consultant and client sparred over style. For example, Buterin recalls, Horizon wanted its home page filled with large images of the exotic places where its tours go. BonaSource argued a home page should do more: Convey what a company is, be easy to read and load quickly--and large images don't load quickly.
A compromise was reached in which a substantially sized image runs across the top of the home page (a style repeated on every page). Underneath are links to the main themes of the packed tours, reduced to two travel styles (Classic and Exploratory). Howe credits BonaSource with helping his company narrow down the themes.
There was also discussion about colour, with BonaSource resisting suggestions of following the new brochure's use of text on coloured background and urging it be limited to small segments.
Main text, it was agreed, should be black on a white background.
Horizon also wanted customers to be able to peronalize the site and a secure portal for its independent agents.
For content management Buterin suggested BonaSource's home-grown PortalFS application, paired with Microsoft SQL Server for the database.
Customizing needed
Ironically, some features of PortalFS, which is made for end users, weren't easy enough. BonaSource had to customize table templates to make them simpler.
Using his Moscow team and holding several meetings with Horizon, the work was completed in less than five months, including testing.
BonaSource estimated the cost of software development would be between $10,000 and $15,000, with software licencing another $5,000.
From there Buterin was so confident Web hits would jump, Howe suggested the licensing fee be paid when traffic to the site tripled. The gamble paid off.
Buterin was justified in his confidence. The volume of traffic has gone up at least three times, reports Howe. "It's probably easily covered the cost of the design, and then some."
Horizon is pleased enough to have BonaSource move to the second stage of the project. Which means the pair are embarking on another voyage.
RELATED ARTICLE: HORIZON & CO.
Need: Overhaul Web site
Cost: Under $20,000
Result: Volume of traffic up at least three times
COPYRIGHT 2005 Transcontinental Media IT Business Group
COPYRIGHT 2005 Gale Group
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