14 February 2013
We have created a new site for the international engineering
giant - Laing O'Rourke.
Our challenge was to create a compelling new web presence for
Laing O'Rourke that is relevant for both geographical hubs (Europe
and Australia); offers a seamless user-experience; is both visually
and tonally engaging and which places the theme of 'engineering
excellence' as central to the site.
A key enabler to this is the use of geo-location technology
which identifies the location of site visitors and then configures
it to deliver content that is relevant to them.
Throughout the site, Laing O'Rourke's global projects are
celebrated; providing visually engaging imagery and demonstrating
the breadth of work that the company is famous for.
Sally Smith, User Experience Architect and Content
Strategist, Radley Yeldar comments: "Laing O'Rourke is an
international engineering enterprise delivering innovative
solutions for its clients, thus it was vital for the website's user
experience to balance simplicity with high levels of
engagement.
Understanding audiences; their needs, motivations and goals was
key to unlocking the user experience challenges in this project.
Some clear audience types emerged from analysis of data and
qualitative research, which the content, functionality and
navigation of the website has been designed to satisfy. The new
website is now both a beautiful and usable experience for Laing
O'Rourke's audiences."
Visually, the challenge was to bring to life the core principles
of simplicity, confidence, intelligence and clarity with a
technical, 'engineered' feel to the site.
Neil Cooper, Design Director, Radley Yeldar
explains: "We created a flexible blueprint for the design which was
based on a grid using horizontal, vertical and diagonal lines. The
photography and graphic language were then layered over the grid to
reference structural and architectural features. We chose to use
Din as a more technical looking font instead of using the
ubiquitous Helvetica so that all of the elements worked together to
achieve our collective ambition."
Key features include:
- An enhanced careers section - job seekers having been
identified as a primary audience for the site
- A carousel showcasing a wide range of Laing O'Rourke's global
projects that is displayed throughout the site providing a strong
promotional vehicle.
- Promotion of the work Laing O'Rourke undertakes with
universities and industry peers to improve engineering and
construction activities by promoting the theme of Engineering
Excellence throughout the site (highlighted by the use of yellow
speech bubbles)
- A new interactive timeline that encourages the visitor to
explore the company's history and get a real sense of development
and achievements.
- A strong design language, featuring a refreshed identity (also
undertaken by Radley Yeldar).
- Clear and simplified navigation and tone, resulting in a site
that is engaging, relevant and inspiring.
"Our objective was to arrive at a design that was clean, easy to
navigate and used strong visual imagery to communicate our
Engineering Enterprise ambitions to a range of audiences and
stakeholders. Radley Yeldar was able to deliver on that ambition.
Leveraging the industry leading content management system in
Sitecore as the backbone of the site, it gives us a solid base on
which to build our communications and online engagement plans
moving forward." Philip Pashley,
Head of Corporate Communications, Laing
O'Rourke.