David Kelly Design Office - Scottish Mentoring Network

More documents

Recommendations

Info

features that would be valuable to your members. • The website will include a secure, easy-to-use admin/content management system to enable SMN staff to manage news, FAQs, staff details, library resources, events and other content, as well as member accounts, blogs, events and discussions. We’re as happy developing the content management system using platforms such as Joomla and Drupal, as we are developing customised open source solutions that exactly fit our clients’ requirements. We’d recommend the latter method because of the level of customisation it enables, and like the platforms, the open source tools (PHP, MySQL) we use do not come with any licence fees or restrictions, and can be picked up easily by any competent developer. In general though, we apply the best available tools based on a thorough analysis of each project’s requirements. For example, the social networking platform Ning.com may provide a good foundation for developing the social networking application, which we would explore as part of the first phase of prototyping the site’s main features. Full training will be provided for the designated website administrator(s). We’d be very happy to show you a demo of similar systems in use by our other clients. Structure 2.4 Based on our analysis of your site diagrams and our initial discussions, we’ve outlined the proposed site structure below – although this may well change slightly during the early phases. The main sections of the new website will include Home, About Us, Mentoring Map, Resource Library, News & Events, Membership/Join, Contact Us, Help/FAQ and Member Area. • Home will make it immediately clear to new and returning visitors about what the Scottish Mentoring Network is and what it can do for them. Clear signposts to information on starting or running scheme, as well as people who want to become mentors (who will be directed towards helpful external resources), will help funnel visitors through to relevant content, and thus optimise the types of enquiry received. Registered members will be encouraged to login to access their account pages and members-only features such as the social networking application and resources. In addition to news headlines, an events calendar, and excerpts of member-generated content, other features of the homepage will include shortcut links to content within the main sections, such as About Us, Mentoring Map and Resource Library. • About Us will outline the background to SMN, its aim and history, and information about staff and directors. • Mentoring Map will provide a searchable directory of members and mentoring schemes throughout Scotland, as outlined above. • Resource Library will provide downloadable resources (eg, Evaluation Packs) via a clear and easy-to-use interface. Any members-only resources will require visitors to login in order to download them. • The News & Events section will provide regularly updated news and forthcoming events. News might include stories about the Network, the latest interesting discussion from the members’ social networking site, or the work of member schemes. You might also want to allow visitors to leave comments, to help encourage more user interaction. The Events calendar will list forthcoming events in an appropriate, easy-to-use format. Members’ own events could be differentiated by colour or other visual treatment, so that visitors can see which are SMN’s own events, which are external events, and which are members’ (SMN administrators will be able to manage all events listings via the admin area). • Membership/Join will explain the benefits of joining SMN, and include a form through which visitors can enquire about becoming a member. • Contact Us will enable visitors to easily get in touch via telephone, email or directly via an online enquiry form. • Help/FAQ will include common questions and answers about mentoring, running a men- © 2008 David Kelly Design Office •
toring scheme, SMN’s services and the website, for the convenience of visitors and to avoid unnecessary contact time with staff. • Member Area will be accessed via a secure login form, and will provide members with access to special members-only content including resources and the social networking application outlined above. Members will be able to edit their profile, add blog entries, events, comment on other members’ discussions and change personal settings such as opting in/out of email notifications. All member actions in this area will be tracked by the system and SMN administrators will be able to moderate any changes or messages. Content management 2.5 As outlined above, the website will include a secure, easy to use admin system to enable SMN staff to manage frequently changing content and back-office processes. Full training will be provided for the designated SMN website administrator. We’d be very happy to show you a demo of similar systems in use by our other clients for managing everything from blogs to events, product catalogues and ordering systems. Email communications 2.6 In order to ensure the site stays in regular touch with members, and to avoid placing this responsibility with SMN staff, we propose to create automated email updates to members (like Facebook’s own updates), including weekly updates from the social networking application, and so on (members will be able to opt-in/out via their own online account page). 2.7 Other email communications may require manual input – for example, a monthly email newsletter or promotional e-shot would require SMN staff to insert content into a custom-designed template and send the campaign to a mailing list, in which case we can provide an account on our email marketing service, Campaign Point. We’d be very happy to demonstrate the email marketing service, including how to create a campaign, manage mailing lists, and view reports on who’s opening campaigns and clicking links. Some example email campaigns for other clients include: • www.campaignpoint.com/c/thelighthouse/ceclaunch/ • www.campaignpoint.com/c/haadesign/ • www.campaignpoint.com/c/cityis/oct07/ • www.campaignpoint.com/c/elevator/0606/ Technical quality assurance, usability and accessibility 2.8 We build standards-compliant web pages using XHTML and CSS, which ensures cross-browser compatibility, and enables us to guarantee compliance with accessibility standards and guidelines set out by the W3C and as required by UK law. 2.9 To ensure maximum usability, we test features at all stages of development (not just at the end). Our mostly informal, qualitative methods enable us to make vastly improved interfaces without having to go to the expense of lab-based tests. Search Engine Marketing & Analytics 2.10 In addition to the core website deliverable, we’ll review the new website content to ensure it is ‘search-engine friendly’, including having important keywords in all the right places, such as page title, meta tags, file paths, and so on. This should help improve your search ranking over time, and provide an excellent foundation for any future SEO work. 2.11 We’ll use a selection of methods to measure the success of the website: © 2008 David Kelly Design Office •
Page 1 and 2: website proposal for Scottish Mento
Page 3: 2 Proposal Aim 2.1 Scottish Mentori
Page 7 and 8: 3 Costs & Schedule 3.1 The total co

David Kelly Design Office - Scottish Mentoring Network

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?