Operating 140 sailings every day means huge traffic to Wightlink’s website, where passengers can check crossing times and book tickets. However, the existing site was slow and lacking in the functionality necessary for a smooth customer experience. Wightlink, a long-time client which was aware of our proven track record, asked us to develop a new mobile-optimised, user-focused and innovative website.

The Problem

To fully understand Wightlink’s requirements, solve its problems and to ensure we were meeting expectations at each stage of the process, we held regular in-person meetings. This worked well until the country shut down due to Covid-19. Forced to experiment with new ways of working (Zoom), the project continued apace and a new project manager was installed to ensure Wightlink received all the support it needed.Crucial for successful UX design is extensive user-testing and feedback, which in this case meant staff and customer insights. We held workshops on board the ferries (before lockdown) to trial different layouts with different groups, enabling us to gather genuine responses on the new design.

The Solution

There were several elements which we added or enhanced, to create an intelligent website for Wightlink and a seamless journey for its customers. These included:<ul class="list-bullet"><li value=1>Adding personalisation for logged-in customers</li><li value=2>Vastly improving the site architecture to display live service status information and easy-to-use, logical navigation</li><li value=3>Redesigning the homepage booking widget, enabling customers to purchase tickets quickly and far more easily</li><li value=4>Introducing a price estimate tool for customers looking for indicative sailing costs </li><li value=5>Re-designing all core pages to help Wightlink communicate more clearly to passengers</li></ul>

The Highlights

Ultimately, using valuable customer insights and collaborating with the client, even during the difficulties of lockdown, we were able to build what Si digital founder, Steven Piper described as “an attractive user-centred website that places Wightlink at the forefront of their industry”. The resulting streamlined site is faster, far easier to navigate and future-proofed. Internal, back-end activities are now less cumbersome. Being mobile-first, it also enables users to access the site in more convenient ways than ever before.

Summary

We'd love to help solve your challenges and build a fully supported product not only providing great user experience for you customers but also an intuitive system for your colleagues to use with ease.

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Hasbro approached us with the idea of creating a platform where the general public could submit their ideas for toy inventions. To accompany the platform, they wanted us to communicate what this was through a fun story. Hasbro asked us to come up with the ideas for a marketing page. We wanted to use their oldest and most famous character, Mr Potato head. We decided that he could tell the story of invention and show the steps that a typical inventor goes through.

Storyboarding

Once the storyboards were finalised, these were moved into the visual design where the website user interface was laid out and the illustrations were created. The site atmosphere was looked to be colourful and vibrant, with large sections showing each step on the invention process, told through Mr Potato Head. During design, animation ideas were experimented with for developers to implement during the build.

Design & Illustration

Previously we built an entire inventor management platform for Hasbro’s professional inventors. Hasbro required a way to import these amateur invention ideas into the platform. Because the system was built from the ground up, bespoke to Hasbro, we were able to modify the system to allow this. After completing a series of questions about their invention, the submission is sent off to the external inventor management platform for review. If their submission is accepted it becomes a normal submission alongside the other professional inventors.

System Integration

As a project, Hasbro Spark has allowed us to combine our expertise in UX design, development and copywriting to create a truly engaging website, that seamlessly integrates a beautiful, interactive front page with a bespoke submission management platform.

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More Work

We worked with Hasbro on a new product which allowed the general public to submit their toy invention ideas.

Hasbro US was looking to welcome amateur inventors to submit ideas for new toys and games. Historically Toy giants were accessible only to professional investors and Hasbro wanted to change this perception. Si digital was handed total creative control over the direction, branding and visual design. We would need to create an inspiring platform that encouraged and enabled inventors to submit ideas to Hasbro.

We worked with Hasbro on a new product which allowed the general public to submit their toy invention ideas.

Hasbro

With fragrances available through only a handful of highly exclusive global retailers, Boadicea’s website is of crucial importance for sales. However, its existing site provided a slow and frustrating buying journey, which contradicted the company’s reputation for impeccable service. This luxury brand needed an e-commerce website which both improved user experience and reflected the quality of Boadicea, whilst enabling increased sales.

The focus was to enhance customer user experience through improvements and upgrades to the site’s functionality and technical requirements. Boadicea’s Magento eCommerce site was vast, operating with unnecessary and confusing functionality that slowed down even the most simple activities, impacting stock and order management. Our first task was to streamline and prioritise Magento’s capability, which immediately allowed Boadicea to better manage and fulfil substantially more orders, without the need for more staff.An audit revealed that the site took too long to load, particularly on mobile devices – an issue which often prompts cart abandonment. By making technical adjustments and moving the site hosting to another provider, speed and resilience were significantly improved. What’s more, the client saved £200 a month in hosting fees. In order to improve customer journey and increase conversions, we carried out copious user experience (UX) testing to identify any problems. Every test highlighted important issues and areas for improvement (such as installing a time-saving postcode look-up and removing the out-dated field for fax numbers - no, really). Each issue was analysed in terms of impact on revenue and expected workload to provide a ‘cost versus benefit’ breakdown to help the client decide where to invest.

The result is a smoother, quicker customer experience which has helped Boadicea gain 33% increase in conversions, £200 pcm saving on hosting. Additionally, the technical adjustments have also made the system easier for Boadicea’s staff to use. Boadicea has been a client of ours for many years and we continue to provide on-going support. This includes creating specific landing pages and graphics for social media marketing campaigns, plus proactive action relating to general site operation - which delivers a user experience that truly is in line with the brand’s reputation.

More work

Creating a Magento eCommerce website reflecting the elegance of this exclusive brand.

Boadicea the Victorious, named after the legendary warrior queen who was said to have smelled victory on the battlefield, is a British fragrance brand which creates original, gender-neutral scents. Launched in Harrods in 2008, its best-selling niche perfumes, sold in hand-crafted bottles, range from £240 to £7,000 each.

Creating a Magento eCommerce website which reflects the elegance of this exclusive brand

Boadicea The Victorious

As part of its product package, Tracker offers an account-based service where members can track their car or motorbike, record trips, carry out security checks and report thefts. The majority of customers access their account via a mobile app. In recent years, Tracker has seen the market become crowded, so wanted to introduce some new features and enhance customer experience, to keep its app the number one choice.

To develop Touch, we used React Native, an open-source UI software framework which is used specifically for building mobile apps. It allows for more rapid app development and smaller overheads, as a single React Native codebase can be used for both iOS and Android. It also works well with JavaScript, which, as a team, we’re expertly versed with.We integrated with Tracker’s existing REST API to connect the Touch app to Tracker’s backend systems, so that all of the updates and additions would work with the current system. Due to the complicated nature of the data, we chose TypeScript to help us reliably handle all of the information from Tracker. We implemented many new and interesting elements in this app build. The first was geofencing - a feature which enables users to set a defined location boundary around their vehicle and should it move out of that area, the app sends an immediate notification. Not just useful in case of theft, but also helpful in cases where offspring borrow the car, too.

What we did

Mapping is a fundamental aspect of the Tracker app, used both to position a vehicle and to display crime statistics for geographic regions. We adopted Apple Maps for iOS and Google Maps for Android which allowed for cross-platform mapping functionality, all while giving Tracker’s users a straightforward experience that they are familiar with.Other benefits include the ability to call Tracker directly from the app, should a vehicle be stolen and the ability to monitor up to five vehicles - so the entire family fleet can be covered!This project involved a huge amount of work within a fairly short project timeline, but using   sprint methodology made it run smoothly. Providing Tracker with a test build every week, then incorporating feedback into the backlog for the next sprint, meant we were able to complete this project on time, while meeting Tracker’s expectations. Dare we say it, the finished product actually exceeded their expectations.

Mapping system

The resulting app is clean, easy to navigate and provides drivers with that additional element of security, knowing they can keep their vehicle secure at the touch of a button. Tracker calls the Touch app “the new secret weapon in vehicle tracking technology” and we couldn’t agree more. To date, it’s had over 5,000 downloads in the Google Play store alone.We continue to work with Tracker on new features and developments. You can find out more about the Touch app on Tracker’s website.

We'd love to help solve your challenges and build a fully supported product not only providing great user experience for you customers but also an intuitive system for your colleagues to use with ease

Got a project in mind? 

The leading vehicle tracking and recovery company wanted us to update its mobile app

<a href="https://www.tracker.co.uk/">Tracker</a>, which provides GPS and VHF vehicle tracking across the UK and boasts a 95% recovery rate, where 80% of vehicles are recovered within 24 hours.

The leading vehicle tracking and recovery company wanted us to update its mobile app

Tracker

Taking a existing massive website, auditing all the content, carrying out large-scale UX research and ultimately delivering an easy to use website experience for Wightlink ferry operators.

Taking a existing massive website, auditing all the content, carrying out large-scale UX research and ultimately delivering an easy to use website experience for Wightlink ferry operators.

Wightlink is an award-winning ferry company which transfers 3.8 million customers annually between ports on the Hampshire coast and the Isle of Wight. Founded in 1972, it is a progressive operator whose care for the environment is evident - its flagship ferry is an eco-friendly hybrid and its efforts in reducing carbon emissions have earned positive recognition.

Wightlink is an award-winning ferry company which transfers 3.8 million customers annually between ports on the Hampshire coast and the Isle of Wight. Founded in 1972, it is a progressive operator whose care for the environment is evident - its flagship ferry is an eco-friendly hybrid and its efforts in reducing carbon emissions have earned positive recognition.Read about how we created the  <a href="/mini-case-study/creating-a-tourist-information-hub">Wightlink Explorer</a>.