HexaGroup Ltd., a digital marketing agency in Houston, announces the launch of the redesigned website for Paradigm®, the largest independent developer of software-enabled solutions to the global oil and gas industry.
The new website is a break from the more industrial design that dominates the oil and gas industry as a whole. “Paradigm is a dynamic, forward-thinking company,” says HexaGroup President, Arnaud Dasprez, “the new site needed to reflect that spirit in both design and functionality.”
On a mission to improve site functionality and usability, HexaGroup set out to create an innovative interface that was simple and intuitive as well as full of personality. Some of the website’s design features include new and updated graphics, a large-scale photo slider to highlight products and services, and a more appealing and prominent navigation bar. HexaGroup performed the website technical implementation on Kentico Content Management System, a Microsoft .Net platform.
Responsive design played a major role in the site’s redesign. HexaGroup programmed the website to be responsive with a layout that adapts to viewing device and screen, greatly enhancing the user’s experience. With a responsive website, visitors of Paradigm’s website have an uninterrupted experience that allows them to easily navigate the site and discover relevant information while also enjoying all of the interactive elements.
This type of implementation was important considering users in the oil and gas industry are often looking at sites on very large monitors (1920 x 1080) or mobile devices, and an optimum viewing experience was needed for both.
The Paradigm responsive Web design implementation was unique, according to Dasprez. “We ventured away from the standard 'bootstrap' responsive design methodology to offer a very unique, innovative interface,” he says. “Before this, people associate responsive design with a very particular set of templates that may not look very creative. The new Paradigm leaves that practice behind.”
HexaGroup also set out to better connect users to the site content by tackling the technical, and often complicated, language surrounding the subject of E&P software.
Websites succeed when they are accessible. HexaGroup worked closely with company experts to develop and edit technical content so that the key benefits of their product offering would be more obvious and accessible to Paradigm’s audience. Improvements in readability and structure were key. The content, which originally had Flesch-Kincade Grade of 21 and readability of -2, was rewritten to a more accessible Flesch-Kincaide grade and readability.
HexaGroup’s information architect reorganized the site’s structure to better fulfill user needs and support key business objectives. For example, the site now has connected solutions and product pages, and related content (technical papers, articles, videos) is associated with selected pages. In addition, HexaGroup created the Solution Finder feature for visitors to easily discover information on the appropriate E&P software solution for their specific need.
The ability to take a complicated subject matter and optimize it for a web audience is just one of HexaGroup’s many content-related services. Other services used to create the site include content population, SEO analysis, and implementation.
