Corporate website for GCT global CRO
GCT is a global contract research organization that provides clinical research services for pharmaceutical companies. The company has been operating for more than 20 years and is represented in more than 10 countries worldwide.
About the project
The main goal of the project was to update the corporate website of the company, timed to the 20th anniversary. At the start of the project, we assessed possible risks solely from a redesign of existing pages: challenges with combining various elements of corporate identity, opaque sitemap logic, compatibilities of CMS versions, possible loss of some of the connected integrations and widgets - therefore, we proposed redevelopment from scratch.
As a result, ArticMedia team gradually developed the concept, structure and logic, prototypes and design of the future website, and then performed the necessary settings and integrations to connect to gctrials.com
To do this, during the project, specialists from different departments of ArticMedia analyzed competitors, redesigned the site map, built the main page, performed several versions of prototypes and design layouts for each page, including for the mobile version.
Research
GCT is engaged in very niche business, so at the first stage we tried to understand what aspects competitors rely on.
To build the structure of the future website, we focused on analyzing and developing the layout of the main page, which reflects the key sections of inner webpages. We have prepared a report with various variants of the structure and design, the ideas formed the basis for the development of a prototype of the main page.
It turned out that the key sections that are of interest to potential customers are: services, experience and geographical coverage.
Main page
Main page is made in the form of a vertical landing page listing the key sections of the website in each screen. We have prepared several variants of the main screen.
Initially, a classic model with video placeholder was planned. However, since the key resource of the company is people, not objects, it was decided to remove the video in the final version in order not to distract user's attention. Instead, we filled it with team photos and prioritized the "Blog" section to show the dynamic development of the company and the latest news from corporate life.
It turned out that due to a fairly large number of screens and a rich menu in the header of the website, it was difficult for users to navigate, so we added an additional anchor menu on the right – a quick access to subsections of the main page.
There is a minimum of text on the main page in order to convey a summary of the company and its capabilities, while more detailed information can be found on the inner pages.
Sitemap
The structure of the previous website was supplemented when needed, so the logic of page levels was broken, and some standard pages were missing.
Together with the client, we generated all possible elements for the new structure in a mindmap.
Then, we added necessary pages of the second and third levels for each branch and described.
Wireframes
One of the longest and most intense stages in this project was prototyping. For several months, we consistently prepared prototype versions for each unique page, configured the elements and discussed further interactions.
Design
Laconic and corporate design with basic colors (white, blue, black) and their shades is complemented by inserts of contrasting bright orange color to focus attention and highlight individual elements.
We have added several unique design elements to distinguish the website from template solutions of competitors. Authentic icons for key facts about the company, a layout for key advantages were developed by our designer.
The core experience of the company is distributed among various therapeutic areas and indications. We have diversified the standard tile and text format with dot image of a person to emphasize the innovativeness of the company's activities and the ubiquitous experience for people's health. Schemes of work and interaction between project participants have been redesigned and unified into a single design.
Redesigned feedback forms: simplified visually with a minimalistic design, key fields and buttons only. Added filtering by question blocks.
Navigation
The structure of the sitemap assumes a large number of pages that need to be designed smoothly to improve the user experience (UX). To represent the top-level elements, we used a classic multi-level horizontal menu. An anchor menu system has been implemented on some complicated inner pages.
Pages with many similar elements, such as Services or Country page, have been compressed in size due to modular ordering. Regional offices can be filtered on Coverage page via the submenu.
Menu and submenu are generated automatically based on the page content set through the CMS admin panel.
To display events from the history of the company, we have developed and implemented a timeline with a reverse chronology of the display of elements. With the help of different colors, icons and animations, elements with an active link and ordinary cards are visually separated.
Coverage
If a user wants to learn more detailed country information, then first he can get acquainted visually with the geo-capture on the world map, which is implemented using an interactive and clickable map widget. Employees can add or remove the necessary countries through the CMS interface without additional coding skills, and the user can go to a selected country page directly from the map.
Next, there are tile cards with a brief office information, its location and image for each country. We have also duplicated this section on the contacts page so that the user does not switch between pages.
The content about the peculiarities of the country highlights aspects of local clinical research. We used various forms for ease of reading and emphasis on key facts: infographics, photos and images, Google Maps widget, external links, feedback forms.
Events
It was decided to deploy a contact center that would accumulate requests of various user categories and enable multi-channel communication with the company.
We have redesigned the structure inside the section and added sitelinks to individual pages for customers (pharma companies), clinical sites, job seekers (career).
Feedback forms, email, Linkedin, phone numbers, amoCRM chat widget are available for communication.
Blog, News
The blog contains important press releases and news, as well as daily updates and posts.
The main page presents a selection of the most recent blog elements. Important news is highlighted larger to attract the user's attention.
We have deployed a platform for managing blogs and publications with convenient sorting by importance and chronology.
There are placeholders for graphics, text, links and buttons to share the publication on social networks and other resources.
Contacts
It was decided to deploy a contact center that would accumulate requests of various user categories and enable multi-channel communication with the company.
We have redesigned the structure inside the section and added sitelinks to individual pages for customers (pharma companies), clinical sites, job seekers (career).
Feedback forms, email, Linkedin, phone numbers, amoCRM chat widget are available for communication.
For general questions or for those who do not want to fill out forms, we have left the classic contact block with business development contact details.
Integrations
In addition to the technical solutions listed above, the website is supplemented with widgets and web analytics services.
We enabled a form to subscribe to the company's monthly newsletter via Mailchimp for marketing purposes.
The main language in the industry is English, but for regional users we added semi–automatic translation into some priority languages.
GCT operates in various regions and is subject to local laws and regulations. For example, in order to comply with all the rules for collecting personal data (GDPR, HIPPA), the cookie policy service has been added.
Mobile
The website is designed with an adaptive design for various mobile devices. During prototyping, we separately discussed and improved the display of complex graphic and text elements for small screens.
