Egypt’s leading bookstore, Diwan, launched its long awaited site featuring all of its products from books, music, DVDs, children’s section, and stationery through a searchable catalogue with online ordering and buying options.Read more
information architecture
Wed, 2009-05-13 18:00
Hello, World, wide web! (Take 3)
We are excited to announce that our new website is launched (obviously) :). Visually speaking, we have a brand new design that is beautiful and usable. We focused on making it easy to find all needed information about our work and to get in touch with us.Read more
Information architecture
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Information architecture (IA) is the natural evolution of business and system analysis applied to the Web. Our focus has always been on supplying great business value to our customers, and the main vehicle to deliver this value is through IA.Read more
Multimedia and Culture
Our interest in multimedia and culture has led us to undertake many exciting projects in this domain. From large bookseller sites to multimedia portals to hardware/software media appliances, we've covered a significant range of consumer scenarios and have built significant expertise in using the possibilities of the Internet medium to engage the audiences.
CMIC BookWeb
CMIC approached OpenCraft to design the user experience for one such technology, to help them convert a raw technical idea into a product prototype that would be user-centric. CMIC is Cairo's Microsoft Innovation Center , where technologies that are created by Microsoft Research labs worldwide are recycled into applied proofs of concept and demos for eventual productization.
The requested service consisted of two main parts: designing a suitable user experience for the product prototype, and implementing the design using .NET technologies. Even though OpenCraft does not possess .NET skills, we were still able to win the contract by proposing a solution whereby OpenCraft would perform the UX work, and outsource the .NET development to a partner. We agreed to conduct the project over several 6-months iterations, progressively refining the prototype each time.
In order to ensure proper information flow among the three parties (CMIC, OpenCraft and our .NET partner quTIP, we built a project management information system that would serve as team communication and collaboration tool, using Drupal CMS.
Based on meetings with CMIC, we designed a first draft of the user experience. We then conducted a special type of usability study called Pluralistic Walkthrough whereby random representatives from the target user groups would evaluate a paper-based simulation of the system. Their feedback allowed us to refine the user interface and desired features to a point where we were confident of building a system that would be desirable. We then converted the designs into richly-annotated wireframes that were used by quTIP as requirements to build the actual prototype.
PricewaterhouseCoopers
PricewaterhouseCoopers needed a dynamic Web portal to manage the recruitment process in the Middle East to provide a more efficient and flexible medium of operations. The requirements were simple:
- Recruitment administrators log on to the portal, and submit available job vacancies
- Job seekers can view and apply to available positions, by filling an application form
- Recruitment Administrator(s) log on to view all applicants profiles or filter applications using search fields
The open source content management system Drupal was used as the framework to implement PwC's recruitment portal. Drupal provides the basic features needed to allow non-technical staff to edit and publish content and photos on the web. OpenCraft designed and developed a new module to handle the job posting and application submission process. The standard software development life cycle was applied to gather and analyze requirements, design the sub-system, implement and test it. OpenCraft responsibilities include:
- Designing and developing the recruitment site
- Deploying, maintaining, and monitoring the site
- Training PwC staff on updating and administering the site content
