You've seen Dayton Superior's work in monumental projects like the One World Trade Center in NYC. So when customers' expectations for their website started changing, the team knew it was time to 'do' digital differently.

Their website provided information to designers, contractors and dealers in the commercial construction industry, but as of 2014, it looked dated, and the system in place for managing content (information, images and news) limited the team's options. 

They began the search for software and a partner to help with the process. The Sitefinity Content Management System (CMS) matched their enterprise software needs, and through that partner network, Dayton Superior came across our work.

"Springthrough was by far the most professional group and the most technically adept of the potential partners we interviewed.

They were fully engaged during the entire process and has continued to be a high quality partner even after the initial release of our website.

Springthrough was, and continues to be, the partner we were looking for at the beginning of the project."

Jay Requarth, User Experience Manager

 

REFRAMING THE PROBLEM

Jay and the team shared with us the struggles they faced.

A challenge every time information needed to be updated. 

The website stored the same information in multiple locations through the site, so when updates occurred, the team had to search for every instance of the old information. Not only did this process waste time, but it also increased the risk that customers would come across outdated information.

Limited customer journey and lost web traffic.

The page for product search restricted how customers could look for information. It prescribed a manner and process for searching and filtering, but many customers did not think or behave in that way. They ended up abandoning the website without the information they needed. 

International clients did not have a personal experience.

Dayton Superior serves customers around the world, but many could not take full advantage of the website in their native language. The team faced a large project of translating their product descriptions, and they needed a system that adjusted the presentation of the rest of the website according to the customer's context. 

So we started crafting a solution through a process of insight, clarity, and enablement.

INSIGHT

We began working with Jay and their team to understand why they wanted a change before deciding how a solution would be built. We needed to define the problem. We talked about where Dayton Superior was today and where they wanted to go with their digital presence. Additionally, we listed to customers and dealers to understand their process and perspective. 

CLARITY

With the goals from stakeholders (Dayton Superior) and their users (customers and dealers) defined, we added our knowledge of best practice in the industry. We began building a road map for this project. We worked with Dayton Superior to determine how to make the biggest impact. 

ENABLEMENT

Based on the road map, we began some of the key activities for this project. 

Separate Presentation from Content.

To create and maintain the experience around each of Dayton Superior's 17,000 products, we needed to separate the content from presentation - a message we share with many of our clients. The content can come from any number of sources and aggregate together. This separation allows Dayton Superior to better manage their workflows. 

Content can be created and edited in one location but published everywhere. 

Customize Product Search.

We created a new and customized search tool that allows people to easily search across products and quickly see the results of their search filters. Shortly after making this change, the Dayton Superior team received meaningful feedback from their customers.. 

"Your willingness to fix your website is commended and indicates your corporate commitment to your product."

Dayton Superior Customer

 

Help Customers Around the World. 

The new content management system matches the customer's experience to his or her context. Content managers at Dayton Superior can now translate their information and product specifications, and the website navigation will match. This workflow keeps the content managers in control of the process for approvals and revisions. 

We worked with Dayton Superior and Sitefinity to configure their Google Analytics to track demographic information, allowing Dayton Superior to better target their customers and expand their range of influence. 

The new DaytonSuperior.com 

IMPACT

When development was complete, we trained content owners at Dayton Superior to ensure they were self-sufficient and poised for the future. 

DaytonSuperior.com received recognition in competition with more than 350 other sites.

PROJECT SNAPSHOT

Over the course of our project with Dayton Superior, the deliverables included

These are just some of the activities and deliverables that we offer to clients. 

To accomplish these tasks, we used a variety of technologies. 

• Sitefinity Content Management System
• Sitefinity Feather
• ASP.NET Web API
• Lucene
• Bootstrap
• AngularJS
• Google Maps
• Custom SharePoint Export