Web design in a recession

The problem

Reed Elsevier design information solutions for professionals, from innovating workflow in hospitals and helping doctors save lives, right through to publishing some of the most respected journals and digital content on the planet. Unfortunately poor user experience and confused brand messaging meant the corporate site wasn’t reflecting this. A review was needed but budgets were tight as Reed felt the brunt of the downturn.

The Solution

Working in an agile way with Content and Code, we prioritised key user tasks – the approach was minimal changes with maximum effect. A review of IA and brand messaging on key pages helped communicate what is an incredibly complex business simply and effectively. Keeping the basic grid and layout the same, we halved the number of web parts, redesigning them with maximum flexibility in mind to give a consistent user experience. We fine tuned the navigation adding a mega drop-down and finally gave the CSS a lick of paint, and there you have it a website to do Reed justice.