The recently redeveloped Web site of the V&A Waterfront, launched just days before the kick-off of the World Cup, has passed the ultimate test and has successfully accommodated almost 100% more site traffic than for the same period last year, with nearly 30 000 site visitors from 149 countries around the globe.
The site, www.waterfront.co.za, was built by the V&A Waterfront's IT partner, Airborne Consulting, designed by The Jupiter Drawing Room Cape Town, and includes a tenant portal and a World Cup specific microsite.
Says Airborne's Chris Lazari: “The previous Web site, while just three-years-old and technically sound, was difficult to navigate and had few content areas for the business to communicate with site visitors. This had resulted in a sharp decline in visitors and the client needed to address these issues prior to the expected influx during the World Cup, as well as do justice to the iconic V&A Waterfront brand.”
Microsoft's Office SharePoint Server 2007 was chosen as the platform, in order to meet the key success factors identified at the project's inception. Time to market was critical, and with the functionality available in SharePoint the site was completed in just eight weeks, including loading content for over 800 tenants, services and events.
Maintenance and usability were also key, and the content management features in SharePoint makes it possible for the end-customer to easily maintain the Web site's content going forward.
Says Lazari: “The Waterfront was a prime attraction during the World Cup, and as such, content relating to special events needed to be updated regularly. They were able to make these changes almost instantaneously with little or no external assistance, and the Web site is now as flexible and dynamic as their business operating environment.”
Chantelle Kidd, Marketing Executive of the V&A Waterfront, said the new Web site is an easy and flexible platform to communicate the unique and varied entertainment and lifestyle offering at the V&A Waterfront, to both Capetonians and visitors.
“Our main criteria for the new Web site were that it should be simple to access, easy to use and a creative, visual extension of the V&A Waterfront brand. This has definitely come through in the implementation and we're very excited about the response we've seen so far.”
“An important part of the design process was incorporating feedback from the public on the type of information they'd like to find on the site. Judging by the number of unique browsers on the site, it seems the new design and information is being well received,” Kidd concludes.
The Web site design by The Jupiter Drawing Room Cape Town was created specifically for development on the SharePoint platform, with as little customisation as possible, to ensure a Web site end product that would be scalable, flexible and stable.
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