Client:St James's Auctions
Type:Website Design and Build
Site:www.stjauctions.com
Credits:
Photoshop PSD Design: Digital Pie
Programming and Build: Jason Coman
St James's Auctions approached with a request to completely re-design their existing site which was about 10 years old. They had a number of ideas in mind to be implemented in the site, particularly the ability for their staff to update and display upcoming and past auction details, a way to add featured lots and an ability to link to their existing auction bidding software 'saleroom.com'. They also needed the ability to display catalogues in E-Book format for viewing on the website.
Step 01:
Diagnosis Of The Client's Requirements
Through a number of face-to-face meetings with the client, their specific requirements and goals for the website to meet were established. These included:
- A clean and professional look to the website that be-fits the company and using it's existing colour scheme.
- Supplying important upcoming auction information for it's customers to use that could be easily updated by St James's staff.
- Displaying an auction archive section to the site, displaying information regarding to previous auctions.
- Creating E-Book catalogues and allowing the user to access the e-books for upcoming auctions and achieved auctions.
- Ensuring integration with the 'saleroom.com' online bidding software their customers were using to place bids.
- Add a section for displaying featured lots
- All imagery must be of a extremely high quality resolution.
Step 02:
Approach
Now the clients exact requirements were determined, a PSD mock-up design of the various pages was created to allow the client to visualise the final outcome before coding started. Once the design was agreed, the functionality of the website was determined to ensure that their customers got the most out of the website. Over the next two months the website was built using the PSD design and comments regarding the functionality of the site. During the design build, the client was kept in the loop as to how the website was progressing on a regular basis. This was to ensure that the website was still meeting expectations and that the requirements hadn't changed from the original specification. Once the website was built, it was fully tested in desktop and mobile devices to ensure all was correct. Once the client was happy with the website, the site was activated live.
Step 03:
Results
Since the introduction of the new website, the client has had very positive feedback from their customers with how easy the site is to use and navigate around. The staff at St James Auctions are now able to add new auctions to the site themselves and archive any auctions they need to. All-in-all, the site has proved very beneficial for the client and their customers.