Quality Timber Decking Company ~ Case Study

This case study gives an overview of the Information Architecture and web design work that was involved in creating a fresh web presence for the Quality Timber Decking Company. The Quality Timber Decking Company supply bespoke quality decks and accessories, adventure play systems, spas and pools throughout Southern England. They have been supplying decks for over six years and are widely respected. Most of their trade comes from recommendation, trade magazines or from web site queries. The company believe that the high quality pictures of projects that they have completed help sell further decks. As they do not supply brochures, their web site is their portfolio. The existing web site was developed in house. While it displayed all of their current projects, it did not have a persistent navigation mechanism or an easily visible area for company contact information. The site is not an ecommerce site, it is a showcase to encourage potential customers to contact the company for a free personal quote.

Competitive Analysis

I carried out a comprehensive review of a large number of competitive web sites both in the UK and the US, comparing the type of content, the site architecture, the navigation tools, the layout and size of the galleries, the colour palettes and the number of pages.

Common Characteristics

  • Top-level tab navigation,
  • Natural woody colour palattes (green and brown)
  • Emphasis on ecology and professional certification
  • Small pictures and lots of words

The Best Bits

  • Simple, persistent, tab navigation
  • High quality photos and images
  • Separation of commercial and residential galleries
  • Description of how a project met the customer's need
  • Watermarking photographs
  • Online quotation forms

The Worst Bits

  • Hand-drawn, cartoonish pictures
  • Overplaying the wood theme.

Audience Definition

Thumbnail of Raised Deck

The company wanted to grow their commercial market, but not to appear too big that they put off enquiries from smaller residential customers. We explored the differences between these types of customers and identified their different needs from the web site. In addition, we profiled customers who were potential time wasters. Customers who would attempt to get free deck designs from Quality Timber Decking and then source another deck company to supply the deck more cheaply. The Quality Timber Decking Company were also concerned about competitors ploughing the site for ideas and designs. Unfortunately, it is quite common for other companies to steal photographed decks and pass them off as their own.

"Quality Craftmanship doesn't Cost- it Pays "

Site Goals

We identified the following key enhancements for the site:

  • The gallery must have the look-and-feel of a high-quality glossy magazine.
  • Must be suitable for use by customers without broadband and with small screens.
  • To explain how the decks met people's needs.
  • To encourage people to request a quote using the online form, email or telephone.
  • Must not give away the company's trade secrets and competitive advantage.
  • To optimise the site's search engine listing.

Concept Wire Frames

Thumbnail of Web Site

We wanted present a traditional look and feel; simple navigation and a clean cut, fresh and sophisticated finish. The goal was to make the decking galleries central to the web site with big, glossy photographs. The site has four main types of pages: the home page; a basic text page (with an illustration); a gallery page with six to eight thumbnails and an individual project page with a photograph, a description of the project and a testimonial from the client (if available).

Thumbnail of Web Site

The site displays three different sizes of images: thumbnails for browsing quickly through the gallery; photo-sized pictures with a short description of the project, and finally large resolution pictures displayed in popup windows. This format is used for both the residential and commercial decking galleries, as well as for displaying the decking accessories, storage, adventure play systems and spas and pools. In addition, the pictures are watermarked with Quality Timber Decking's name to reduce theft.

Site Architecture

Thumbnail of Bicycle Storage

Using the site goals and the typical content found on competitive web sites, I created a content inventory for the site. In line with best practice found on competitive web sites, I separated the company from the product information. The categorisations of projects into the galleries required significant consideration to ensure that the emphasis was on the residential and commercial decks, yet all the company wares were viewable from the site shop window.

Site Development

As this was my first commercial implementation, keeping the site simple was key. It was initially developed in vanilla html and migrated to CSS as my experience grew. The site includes perl scripts to implement a simple online form. Future enhancements include incorporating a simple content management system to make it feasible for the company to update the site themselves.