Commitment to a simple, bold design that connects a wide array of users
MJM Architects is a Toronto-based multidisciplinary design firm focused on projects that advance personal and civic wellness and include a diverse array of programming and scales. Their projects include high-performance sport, recreation, libraries, wellness programs, aquatics, cultural and learning space, labs, sports fields, trails, gardens, and plazas.
Objectives
The focus of this project was to plan, design, develop and deploy a completely new and improved MJMArchitecture.com website that presents the great quality projects in the firm’s portfolio. In order to accomplish this, we needed to create a great user experience, powered by an easy-to-use, robust content management system.
Challenges
MJMA’s main challenge was to present its vast portfolio of projects against a clean and minimalistic palette. This architecture website redesign needed to resolve a big problem – delivering a robust user experience for mobile users in a digital environment characterized by small images. The existing site did not present information about the firm effectively to its primary users – current and potential clients. Our challenge was to make it easier for users to find, explore and peruse the portfolio of projects in an easily categorized and great looking layout using fast-loading, full-width images.
Scope of Work
Our Approach
Our solution included a complete site redesign using new photos and content, all backed by the robust and flexible, Kentico CMS.
We were able to improve user experiences and automation processes, workflow, versioning, localization, page templates, page types, widgets and more with the Kentico CMS platform.
Custom page types were created to represent a variety of different types of content including projects, project slide images, project thumbnails and staff. The content tree was highly effective for organizing projects, project imagery and project category pages. Custom tables were used to store additional project information, including project types and sub categories. Custom webparts were created to overcome specific issues that could not be resolved solely using an out-of-the-box solution.
It was an enjoyable and rewarding experience working with Inorbital and I would encourage any client to engage their services if seeking a finely crafted website that balances design, function, and management.
Results
The immediate feedback from stakeholders and users has been overwhelmingly positive. As a result of implementing Kentico for the redesign we were able to significantly improve page speed and performance. Straight A’s for all key indicators from Webpagetest.org. Webpagetest.org.
"The primary drivers in our refresh project was to have a website that displays our project images at a large scale, is accessible and equally user-friendly on all platforms, and is incredibly easy to navigate content. Inorbital was key in realizing these goals. Their design approach is not only focused on what you see, but how it functions, and how it can be managed. This 'future-proofing' approach drove every decision. The real power in our updated website is a robust content management system --- designed for the most non-tech-savvy person (such as myself) to control and manage the full website with ease. This simple to use 'back end' was critical to the success of the project --- we rely on regular (sometimes daily) content updates to remain current, fresh, and promote our brand."
Timothy Belanger Partner MJMA
Project Details
MJMA chose Kentico for its ease of use for content editors and administrators. The ability to craft any kind of layout without being restricted by template or CMS. Kentico features like content tree, custom tables, out-of-the-box Kentico webparts, page templates, custom page types, and custom built webparts made choosing Kentico over other products the best approach.