In the four years since our last website re-design Heart Internet has gone through some big changes. We have a much more diverse product suite and the way people browse the internet has changed dramatically (traffic to our site using mobile devices is up 400% in the past 3 years).

Our website was trying to carry a load it was never designed for, and it was starting to show. So, at the start of this year we initiated a project to completely re-design our website from the ground up.

A huge task for a huge website

In terms of the products we sell, since 2004 we have launched VPS, Hybrid Servers, SiteDesigner, goMobi, StopTheHacker, Hosted Exchange, multiple domain extensions and many more. Each of these products also has supporting pre-sales content and functionality (e.g. the VPS configurator) that needed bringing over to the new design.

More than just a new look

Rather than just a simple refresh, we wanted our new website to be fully responsive (using an in-house built framework), addressing the increasing traffic coming from mobile devices.

We have also taken the opportunity to introduce a massively improved UI to make it easier for visitors to find the information they need as quickly as possible.

On top of these new products and functionality, we are a much bigger business in general than we were in 2004, with larger and more complex teams (and we are still growing at an incredible rate).

With all this in mind, the organisational challenges we faced for this re-design were:

1. Increased product range
2. A bigger website
3. Larger teams

In this post I will go through how we addressed these challenges to ensure the new website was launched within our deadline, and how you can apply these to any large projects you work on.

Lists and Gantt charts are your friend

The best business objectives are Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Timed (SMART). I would say this is also true of a project task list.

Create a list of all the actions required to complete your new website and then break down them down further in to specific tasks. Give each of these tasks a deadline, and allocate it to a team member so everyone knows who has responsibility for what and when it needs to be done by.

Set realistic deadlines

A deadline is only worth having if it is thought out, planned and achievable (see the point above). Deadlines plucked out of the air or aggressively timed are pointless as they probably won’t be hit. This in turn negatively affects morale and the quality of work.

Ideas will evolve

What seems like a great idea at the start may start to be questioned as other pieces of the puzzle slot in to place and they have a butterfly effect on the website. Rather than trying to hold on to an idea that no longer works, save time and energy adapting and moving on.

Keep the team, a team

Although they seem to be out of fashion I am still a believer in regular short and to the point team progress meetings. This keeps everyone up to speed with where the project is, exposing them all to the bigger picture and avoiding silos forming. It also gives the team the opportunity to get help or ask for ideas with any issues they may have come across. If the meeting is as simple as “Everything is fine and on track” that’s still worth having.

Don’t manage by committee

Everyone has an opinion and asking for ideas at the start is fine. However, once the project begins in earnest it is important that decisions are taken by as few people as possible and ideally with one having the final say. Projects run by committee usually end up with an end result that no one is really happy with and everything is a compromise. A clear vision is vital for a great looking website.

And finally… stay calm

As the deadline gets closer and the to do list seems to be getting bigger rather than smaller, keep in mind that everything has a habit of coming together at the end – with some hard work. If you allow yourself or your team to become stressed, work will inevitably slow down which creates a self-fulfilling prophecy of failure.

In summary

We hope you like our new website and find it a faster and easier experience to find the information you need. We have already started work on applying the new look and feel to the customer control panels for a more consistent user experience. In the meantime, if you would like to give any feedback on our new website, leave a comment below, we’d love to know what you think.