What We did
The Problem
The website needed to communicate the attractions and benefits of each individual operation and ultimately stimulate online bookings.
For this to be achieved an engaging site had to be designed that stimulated visitors on an emotional level, through a combination of striking visuals, interactive features and effective use of content.
The project was a sub-brand of parent Forestry Tasmania and needed to possess its own characteristics and style. The website was expected to set a precedence for future forestry communication material.
The website required a third party e-commerce facility to enable users to book online. Each of the four attractions were to be essentially standalone websites, with their own unique URLs. However they were expected to operate seamlessly between each other, making the user feel they were on one website.
Future Medium were engaged to resolve this problem
User-engagement and user-experience
Early strategic workshops identified the primary goals of the website were to:
- Attract Visitors
- Stimulate online bookings (drive conversion).
- Achieve accurate integration of Forestry Tasmania brand elements whilst operating as a sub brand identity.
We specified that our success should be measured by the following KPI's:
- Conversion Rate (ratio of site visitors: online bookings).
- Number of bookings per Month.
- Easy to manage website (administration of the site through CMS).
- An engaging and positive user experience.
As a consumer experience project designed to persuade users to interact with the real product in terms of bookings it was important to make strong use of imagery capable of evoking positive emotions.
With such importance placed on user-engagement it was essential that our strategic workshops focused on identifying their offline behaviour and correlating this with anticipated online behaviour. This process allowed us to develop a profile for each user group, supported by specific online needs and expectations they had.
In-depth personas were created for three unique groups. These personas defined focal points in the users search for product, their geographical location, their research patterns and time allocation for said activities, and also how much knowledge each user group would already have before even visiting the site. These personas identified in great detail their expectations for engagement, their preferences for style, labels, their emotional needs, and their need for peer validation of product quality.
Open Source Technology
Our technical team proposed a number of open source platforms that could meet the needs of Forestry Tasmania. After discussions with Information Technology managers the project was decided to be built using Joomla.
Joomla was selected due to the level of flexibility that was available in various built-in modules. Of interest was the ability to apply design skin overlays in an efficient manner. For example, Phoca Gallery was used for image catalogue management and multiple uploads (optimised on the client side).
Our support team developed a custom manual defining the various implementation aspects of the website and how Joomla was utilised to effect changes.
Located around the state of Tasmania, the Adventure Forest sites offer a range of enjoyable ways to experience vibrant state forests. Watch videos, browse images and operating info. You can even book your visits online!
