Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Post 3. Website Design - Chris Nowlan

Website Design

Virgin Mobile

Problem

The average Virgin Mobile customer is still in his teens. His cell phone isn't for calling the office or checking his schedule; it's for connecting with friends, making plans, and downloading ring tones. It is for staying in touch with his culture, a youth culture that is always on the move. Virgin saw that its users cared more about community than utility, and knew it was time to change its image from a pay-as-you-go telecommunications provider to a youth wireless network.

Response

The design team began an in-depth exploration of youth culture, hitting the streets in hip New York neighbourhoods to see what was happening. They found a culture that thrived on music and art, media, and each other. They wanted to communicate quickly and cheaply, not only through phones, but also in every way possible - email, text messaging, note passing, and conversation. The design team also conducted industry analysis to determine a new identity for Virgin Mobile that would balance the fashionable and the trustworthy, the edgy and the reliable. Because Virgin Mobile users are so young, parents often foot the bill for their mobile devices. The website had to be cool enough for its users, but professional enough for their parents.

Result

Customers love the simplicity of the design, its new offerings, and its community partnerships. Links to the site have been showing up on youth discussion boards and blogs across the country. And this new devotion to teen culture is just the beginning: frog's re-branding of the website provided an information structure flexible enough for further extension into on-site blogs, community posts and concert updates, music reviews, and other features.






Other Examples

The blockbuster website, which launched in September 2006, promises to bring Blockbuster's online positioning up to the level of its storefront success. Rather than a simple redesign of site aesthetics, the update puts power in the hand of the user, with high-level functionality and a true incorporation of personal choice.


The resulting site helped position Microsoft Windows Mobile as a leading force in the mobile communications space, setting the benchmark for online marketing, support, and evangelism of mobile software and devices.



Bibliography

http://www.frogdesign.com/case-study/virgin-mobile-website-design.html 20-8-09

2 comments:

  1. well its all good but ur examples are to small to see in the future more pictures would keep the readers attention for longer might even get them interested in what u have to say keep on trucking bus boy.....

    ReplyDelete