Web design project. Phebra, Australia - Case Study Example

Web Design Proposal by Full College: 21/08/2008 Contents Project background 3 Description of existing design solution 4 Evaluation of existing design solution 5 Rational for a new design approach 7 Structure and content of the new approach 8 Stage 1 Discovery 8 Stage 2 Contract Proposal 8 Stage 3 Development 9 Criteria, Development Timeline and Cost Estimate 10 References 11 Project background Phebra is a pharmaceutical company based in Australia. They specialise in medicines which are considered to be innovative for the hospital market. Their market place is tailored to serious and life-threatening conditions. They are specialists in their field. They have a range of pharmaceuticals to cater for the majority of conditions in the "serious" and "life threatening" categories. The areas they currently market to include Australia, New Zealand, Asia, Canada and Europe. This project has arisen out of a need to review and improve the existing Phebra website. The task of the new look website will be to communicate the Phebra message in a simple easily readable format. As much information about the company should be placed on a single page, rather than splitting the information into separate pages. This should also make the site easier to navigate. As Phebra were previously known as PharmaLab, it could also be considered as a "rebranding" promotion. Therefore the look and feel of the new site is important, from the perspective of customer branding and effective marketing. Description of existing design solution The existing design is based on a blue and white colour scheme. The main focus of the front page is the pull down menu which details the products on offer from the company. The site is fairly simplistic on the front page, in that the main sections include the business, products, ordering information and a contacts page. The main theme of the business is covered with the title "Life-enhancing medicines." This is quite effective. The news section on the left of the web page provides information on recent events. At the right of the home page a typical product is featured. The target audience is not obvious from the home page, even though the intended audience is hospitals. There are no links or information on current customers, even though they market to several countries. The areas Phebra cover is not easily identifiable from the home page information. The colour scheme is easy on the eye, and has a friendly outlook. The marketing message is good overall, but leaves room for improvement and could be more targeted. The information on the products however, is not easy to understand to the lay-person i.e. anyone who is not a pharmaceutical professional, and could be improved. Evaluation of existing design solution The existing design of the Phebra website is partly based on history, following the change in branding from "PharmaLab" to "Phebra". The site is well established and is attractive. The main problem with the site is that the information is quite technical and not understood by the everyday user. The site may be fine for pharmaceutical professionals, but in order for managers and the general public to find information a description of terms and products could be provided in a more user-friendly manner. They provide a useful contact us page, and the current format is suitable, as is. From a marketing perspective the text used does get to the point, but could do with a facelift. Their objective is to sell pharmaceutical products to hospitals in several countries. Therefore a simple statement about the products they sell is fine up to a point. However, in order to compete with numerous other companies in the same field, it would help to include demonstrations of products perhaps in flash movie format. Another way of gaining competitive advantage would be to include testimonials and a list of established customers. This would enhance Phebras reputation is a market leader in their field. The colour scheme is friendly to the eye and allows for easy viewing of text on the site. It is not envisaged that major changes would be required in terms of the colour scheme. As Phebra are based in Australia, the Australian market place should be considered to be of prime importance. From the existing web site it is not obvious that they are tailoring their products to the Australian market. It would be good if statistics were provided as to the most common causes of serious and life-threatening illnesses in Australia. By doing this, they could then comment on the products they recommend for the chosen conditions. The current marketing strategy seems to be more generic. This will not help if Phebra wish to target their business where it would be most beneficial. In effect, they are allowing competitors to steal market share. Another major problem with the site is in the way it has been put together, as a series of tables. The ongoing debate of "Table based" V CSS has been "ongoing for years with regard to web design" (Templates Factory, 2008). The widest possible audience can be reached with table based design, as some old browsers can handle this approach. However, as most hospitals use the latest and greatest browsers, it is not necessary to have a table based design of a website. Phebra have standards as to the look and feel of all the text they use. Therefore, a CSS based site would be an improvement over the existing table based solution they have put in place. Tables are easier to manage, but this is a professional website, and therefore it should be designed using the latest technologies which maintain a standard look and feel. The page layout is simple but is not imaginative and needs to be improved with regards to making it more appealing and interesting. For example, the navigation bar is static and does not have any animation associated with it. The website includes "busy text" frequently, placing emphasis on items which may detract from the main message. Rational for a new design approach The web site needs a face lift and needs to reach out to the areas it claims to be serving, and target those areas specifically. The site needs to be improved on all of the following points: Needs to be made more relevant to the local market, in Australia. Needs to have more dynamic functionality, including how the site operates when users interact. The site needs to assist with standards, by being html & CSS based. The navigation bar needs to add interest by including animation. The colour scheme can stay in the company colours, but a lighter blue is recommended, as it provides a more "cheerful" look to the site. The page layout needs to include more information on one page, but not be too overcrowded. This will make it easier for users to obtain the information they need more quickly. Images on the existing site seem to be scarce. The "featured product" section needs to be amended to include more products and become plural i.e. "featured products". As Phebra market to hospitals and pharmaceutical companies a printer-friendly page needs to be added which is easy to read and interpret. Structure and content of the new approach Stage 1 Discovery Having completed the "discovery phase" of the project and identification of basic web site enhancements and improvements, we can explore stage one in more depth. As the audience is mainly Australian based, the site should be aiming specifically at the Australian market. This is Phebras' core business. The actions to be inspired are for an increase in orders from Australian based hospitals for "Life-Enhancing" drugs. Phebra already have a unique market place. The problems is that the message is not reaching enough potential customers in Australia. Therefore the objectives for stage one is to use the results from the preliminary investigation and research further to identify how the website can reach the target markets and enhance growth. Stage 2 Contract Proposal The proposal is to build, test and implement the site according to schedule. Phebra will be involved at all stages of the process to ensure that it meets the objectives and they are satisfied with the development of the site. Once this process is completed the site will be launched and marketing of the website and search engine optimisation will begin. Keywords and tags will be appropriately placed and the site will be submitted to a number of search engines. Keywords will be effectively placed with appropriate descriptions. A number of additional advertising mechanisms will be used, such as Google Adwords. Once the contract has been approved and signed by the client we will endeavour to deliver the project within the timescales of three weeks. There will be a deposit of 20% prior to commencement of the contract, and the remaining 80% will be paid upon completion. The costs are based on hourly charges for each stage of the project. The number of estimated hours are included in the initial quote. Description Hourly Rate $ Estimated Hours Total Website Design 25.00 25 625 Development 40.00 36 1440 Website Promotion N/A N/A 1000 Annual Support Costs (Monthly) N/A N/A 2000 Total Costs: $5065 (The support costs will be paid on a monthly basis at the rate of $200 per month). The support costs include telephone and email support and site visits at a small additional charge of $40.00 per hour per visit. The deposit of 20% does not include the support costs, and therefore the cost of deposit is $5065 - $2000 = $3065. A deposit of $613 is therefore payable at commencement of the project. Stage 3 Development The third stage of the project is the development cycle. Phebra will be involved with all stages of development and testing to ensure the project is progressing as planned and with full approval. Criteria, Development Timeline and Cost Estimate The total timeline for the development of this project is 4 weeks, from commencement to completion. This includes the development time and a final week in which Phebra will run the site on a test basis, before finally signing off the site as live and operational. At this point the full fees outstanding will become due. TimeLine Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Discovery Phase Design Implementation Testing & Implementation References Journals Palser, Barb. "Second-Mover Advantage: When Launching Online Products, Listening to the Audience Is More Important Than Speed." American Journalism Review Apr.-May 2008: 46. Questia. 22 Aug. 2008 . Mccrea, Bridget. "Make Your Website Pop: Gurus Explain How to Distinguish Your Business Online." Black Enterprise Nov. 2005: 70. Questia. 22 Aug. 2008 . Internet Templates Factory. "CSS vs. Table Based Design." Templates Factory. 2007.21/08/2008 . WWW.IO.COM. "Online Technical Writing: Highlighting & Emphasis." Online Technical Writing: Highlighting & Emphasis. 2008. WWW.IO.COM. 21/08/2008 . Precision Creations. "Six Stages of a Successful Website Project." Precision Creations Design Group Blog Archive. Precision Creations. 2008. 22/08/2008 . Read More