Background
KEMET, a global leader in Electronic Component Manufacturing, stands out with its advanced tools for component search. Its Gold Standard offerings are one of its core values, instilling confidence in its existing and potential customers.
It was no different when I worked with them on the idea of the Engineering Center. The purpose of Engineering Center is to be a knowledge base for Engineers to research and choose specific parts to serve their product designs best. KEMET is a leader in Engineering Services that help their Engineers to develop cutting-edge designs.
Objectives
Content was the centerpiece of the Engineering Center. The goal was to have it be a knowledge repository for Engineers. Since most of the marketing team used WordPress, the platform chosen to manage this content was WordPress.
I worked closely with the PM (James Lewis) and KEMET’s Design Partner, Ahtorn Clark & Partners, based in Connecticut. AC&P sent over designs, which we reviewed and iterated on. Using my UI/UX design expertise and my background in Graphic Design, I was able to bridge the gap between what was possible on the web and what the users needed while speaking a common design language with the experienced designers from AC&P.
How often do you come across someone who regularly over-delivers? That’s Kevin. Calling him just a “Web Programmer” or “Graphic Designer” is woefully inadequate. We worked together on an ambitious web project, a scale never undertaken at my company before. This project introduced me to Kevin’s excellent work. His insights are unlike any other web developer I’ve worked with in the past. Kevin’s thinking reflects a healthy cross-discipline. His ability to consider the “big picture” and implement the details was the project’s greatest asset. On another note, I looked forward to our pleasant conversations—whether it was about the project, some clever code he wrote, or the following weekend. At the time of writing, this project was our first collaborative effort. I’m sincerely looking forward to working on future projects with Kevin.
Challenges
The site would be a knowledge repository, requiring multiple paths to any information. However, the marketing team couldn’t spend hours linking things, so linking related content and surfacing important events was necessary.
I was personally tasked with developing a ‘pixel-perfect’ rendition of the static designs AC&P sent and created a WordPress theme.
The theme needed to be completely custom, mobile responsive, and maintainable.
Solutions
Not so scary 404… most of the time 404 (page not found) or other error pages halt a user’s progression in its tracks. This custom 404 page aims to give users alternatives to what they couldn’t find.
Finding KIT Events… the KEMET Institute of Technology (KIT) events were webinars that engineers could attend to learn about KEMET products. These events needed to be surfaced in an easy-to-find way and split out by the regions that KEMET serves. Someone on the Marketing Team managed these regions, and we cleverly used categories in the theme. The content manager then assigned each event the appropriate category.
Related Glossary Terms… The marketing team created a glossary of terms. It was important to link these terms on a post page so the engineer reading KEMET’s content could understand KEMET-specific meanings of industry-wide phrases/words and general definitions.
Results
During the development phase, we all came together to launch on time despite the Software Team being split with other projects, highlighting true collaboration.
This project couldn’t have been completed by any one developer in the given timeline, highlighting the importance of our collective contributions.
Lessons Learned
- The number of clicks a user has to go through on a given site matters. One of the focuses of this project was an efficient way to get the information.
- I learned about making the association of data accessible for a content manager and a developer when building out a WordPress theme or the like.
- The experience of working with KEMET’s design partner helped develop my communication skills and the ability to express things in a vernacular that bridges the gap between engineering and design.