Two new eZ Publish extensions have been released: StyleEditor and XML Export. These contribute to make eZ Publish the best Open Source CMS.

I attended the UK Museums on the Web 2009 Conference UKWM09 at the V&A Museum in London. Good speakers, very informative day!

Just back from Nice where a new exciting eZ Publish project is in the making - it will be a business re-engineering reference site!

eZ Publish is the best platform to integrate an organisation website with an admin system, reducing overheads & improving customer service!

Flat for sale in Nice

Anyone interested in buying a 3 bedroom flat in Nice? If so visit frenchriviera.org.uk for photos and further information or contact me!

Season's greetings

As the end of the year is fast approaching it's time to think about what the new year holds in store for us.
Just a few thoughts...
Is 2008 going to be remembered as the beginning of the end of Google's search supremacy and the start of Search Wikia which will not share search data with advertisers, nor invade privacy by storing users' search terms?
Or will 2008 be remembered as the year when Google started to unsettle Wikipedia supremacy with its own Knol project. Knol (from the word "knowledge", just in case you did not get it) is designed to allow anyone to create a page on any topic, which others can comment on, rate, and contribute to if the primary author allows.
Or perhaps will the likely financial turmoil cause an upsurge in the use of the web for e-commerce and marketing? After all it's somewhat easier, cheaper and far more effective to change a website than convert building or relocate offices.

Whatever happens, I would like to wish a wonderful Christmas and best wishes for a happy, peaceful and prosperous New Year to all the readers of this blog!
Kind regards
Andre

PS: Get your Christmas present here.

What is web design about?

With over 12 years of developing websites and working for our clients for many years it is not surprising one develops some ideas and methods about what it takes to develop a successful website.

Far too often people are more interested in what the site should look like than what it should do for their business.

Not a surprise really as it is difficult for a single person in any business to have all the skills require to run successfully all aspects of a business.
So it is possible to end up with a beautiful website which does not help your business. Is yours like this?

As always, a superfluous approach is always the easiest, the quickest and cheapest and the measure of whether a website is successful is very often how sexy it is!

So how do we at EAB approach a new website project, be it a brand new site or a re-design?

First we try to understand the background to the project. What are the main reasons for justifying the project?

Are these reasons in line with the business objectives? Have the objectives been properly formulated? I would argue that a website is successful if it enables a business to fulfil its objectives, therefore the success of the project can only be measured in this context.

In the ideal situation we would look at a number of business considerations such as financial, marketing, operational and technical. If a project brief has already been written we would analyse it with these considerations in mind. We would then work with the client to address any mismatch in order to ensure the website is developed in such a way as to match the stated business objectives. This way only a suitable set of criteria can be established for measuring the success of the project. In this context, the subjective look and feel of the site is only one of many considerations.

Following this business analysis a project brief is created and revised, creating the basis for site design mock-ups and structure. This process will be the subject of another post soon!

If you feel your website isn't supporting your business objectives or has not delivered its promise, why not get in touch?

I offer a free hour consultation followed by a proposal with costed options!

You have nothing to lose!

Please contact me at abottin@eab.co.uk or phone direct on 01727 751446 or skype me at abottin.