http://www.virtual.co.nz/index.php/Main/HomePage

What the customer said

"I was a reluctant buyer. I have always been fearful about IT and the internet. Even though people were telling me that the Virtual Group site needed to be upgraded, I thought "It may not be good but at least it's working. Lets leave it alone!". I had someone who I paid to make changes and even though it was expensive and a problem to work through another party (things never looked quite the way I wanted them to) at least I was not directly involved.

I have worked with many technical people over the years. Usually I hate the experience because they have a way of making me feel flustered and stupid. Mike is a gem. He not only knows his stuff but he does it in such a gentle and personable way that it becomes easy and fun ... and I never thought I'd ever say that.

Indeed it's so easy I can now personally change any page at any time and yet have no risk of changing the colours, type and feel of the site. This is important because I want to keep it current and changing regularly so people come back at least every month.

For me the most important thing was the quiet and gentle way Mike had of working. This resulted in increasing my confidence and self belief to the extent where I can now look after the web page without external help. I regularly make updates to the site and get it looking exactly how I want it to look. This is mostly because of my increased confidence.

The second most important thing was the thought and care that Mike brought to the job. To start with he came up with several draft site "looks" and layouts etc. As we developed the site Mike made many helpful suggestions including a search facility, and a "send to a friend" facility.

To summarise, I think Mike has a special talent for the work he does and a genius for making it all seem possible and even easy to non-technical types.

I am happy to speak with anyone considering using Mike."

- Bruce Holland, founder Virtual Group

The Challenge

The Virtual Group, a well-known group of Wellington-based business consultants, required an upgrade to their existing website so that it would:

• be consistent throughout
• enhance the brand
• provide visitors with some business value, simply from visiting the site
• provide information on the services
• provide a "core" of Group information
• allow members to update and add their own information directly

The Solution

A small team comprising Bruce Holland, David Barnes and Mike Osborne established the overall objectives and site structure.

The classic Virtual logo was updated to a simpler more modern look and the site was designed to have a bright, energising appearance. There was a vast amount of content to shift from the old site to the new one (about 500 pages).

Wiki software was used to set up the site as this easily provided the ability for any of the members to update their own pages, which are effectively sub-sites within the overall web site.

The site was tested by a number of different users and adjustments were made to improve clarity and flow.

The Result

The site has been well received by customers and the daily visit count has had a continuing upwards trend since the launch.