Summary: 

The development of the website for GE Lighting in Argentina was undoubtedly a historic milestone for Rednodo. The project gained international recognition within GE, which opened doors for us to provide services across the Americas and expand our company. This collaboration led to a strong business relationship that has endured for over 17 years. 

Introduction: 

In 2005, we encountered the opportunity to develop the website for GE Lighting Argentina due to the company’s need to comply with a global rebranding initiative. At Rednodo, we had a design and programming team that enabled us to offer the solution the client needed to update their website according to the brand’s new global guidelines. In the United States, the company had developed a website with a budget that was impossible to manage locally, and a global solution was not available. The main requirements were to align with the new corporate image, incorporate functionalities from the reference site in the United States, use the ASP.NET programming language following corporate security guidelines, and adhere to a tight development timeline. While our expertise was primarily in PHP programming, we were equipped to take on this challenge. 

Analysis: 

The project presented several challenges that needed to be addressed within a short period of a few months of work. Failure to meet the 90-day deadline would result in financial penalties. The ASP.NET programming language was relatively new to the market, with the first version released in 2002, just three years prior. While version 2.0 was already powerful, development processes were more sophisticated, and complex compared to those required for PHP development. Moreover, the project demanded advanced functionalities available on reference sites in the United States. It required showcasing an extensive product catalog with technical information, generating data sheets, implementing advanced search filters, showcasing success stories, articles, news, press releases, document libraries, and managing banners and descriptive texts for all sections. Many of these functionalities are now common in e-commerce applications, but in 2005, they were not as developed or popularized, especially in a corporate programming language like Microsoft’s ASP.NET. 

Solution: 

The development successfully met all requirements and even surpassed the reference site with functionalities that did not previously exist. The content management system was highly versatile, allowing attributes to be added to products. These attributes were organized into categories with reference help descriptions, creating a technical glossary with various data structure types. The marketing team could add products or expand their information even when technical attributes had not been created. Most importantly, these updates could be done without any need for programming or system updates. The project was completed within the planned timeline, and we even received a bonus for delivering it ahead of schedule. 

Conclusion: 

The project was a resounding success on all levels. Praise from marketing and IT departments reached the highest hierarchical positions globally. The final product’s quality, development time, implementation, and costs were highly commendable. Consequently, the decision was made to extend the project to other business units and later to other regions facing the same global need for website updates. For over 7 years, the sites developed and maintained by Rednodo were used throughout the LATAM region, delivering excellent performance and yielding outstanding results for the marketing department. In 2013, the sites were replaced by a global platform, which Rednodo was responsible for implementing and maintaining for many years until being replaced by another platform. The current platform continues to be maintained by the agency, along with other marketing services that have transformed into even more significant actions for our clients. 

A new challenge:
At Rednodo, we understand that optimizing operations is extremely important. This is especially true regarding achieving the correct workflow at small companies. In cases where there is a lack of data control and organization of active documents, staff often find themselves doing repetitive tasks, which translates directly to an additional expenditure of money and resources.

We started devising an accounting loading system adapted to a medium-sized transportation company. Our team was able to develop this system within 4 to 5 months. In that time, it managed to achieve a high-performing level regarding the protection and backup of data. Its performance even aided in optimizing employee performance by 85%.

Developed with Lavarel, and integrated with Quickbook into the company’s bookkeeping system, our specialized Web & Support team managed to offer our client an efficient alternative to the ones available in the market. Unlike traditional options, which tend to collapse or even fail to perform due to their size, this system was explicitly designed to serve our client’s needs and respond to them.

Our teams aim to offer personalized and highly efficient strategies. Hence why they were able to develop a zero-error system. This system was designed to avoid mistakes when handling sensitive information, unlike manual work that cannot be automated or standardized.

Step by Step:
After reviewing our client’s needs, we decided the first step in the right direction was to install an efficient bookkeeping system and a helpful management system for bookings and solving clients’ queries regarding services and transactions.

Concerning the website, we wanted a functional and friendly one. To achieve the best possible outcome, we divided the process in two. In the first instance, our team tackled everything regarding design. While the design team worked on over ten screens using wireframes to develop a clear structure, the Web team worked on the booking and queries system plan. Developing over ten screens provides the client with a functioning and intelligent website that responds and adapts to different devices and is user-friendly.

To develop this efficient system, Lavarel was used to expedite the process. Besides helping accelerate development, this platform gives the website a higher level of security and performance. Another key benefit of this platform is that it offers multiple user benefits, like two-step authentication, thanks to its feed-forward control, as an additional security measure. Moreover, the website now has the power to block users with suspicious activity, administrate different profiles within the same account, and status check orders and reservations, among others.

Results optimization:
With a well-structured and easy usability, this system focuses on aiding employees avoid repetitive tasks and errors when handling their client’s confidential information. Developed with efficient and secure platforms such as Lavarel, this medium size transportation business has a system that can adapt to all devices and automate delicate functions such as billing, reservations, cancellations, and required documentation necessary for the development of their service. With this new enterprise resource planning system, this team of professionals is ready to help their customers with all the arrangements and logistics needed for domestic and international shipments.

Today we want to share a story of success. This year, Ser Argentino, a digital media dedicated to communicating about Argentina and its culture, decided to update its website to expand its functionalities and improve its user experience. 

The amount of work required was enormous. It demanded a team of seven experts among designers, layout designers, and programmers. It took us six months to take the final product online, and we will continue working on improvements and extensions of functionalities. 

At this point, you must be asking, “Well… Where’s the success on that?” Fair question, listen up! 

Our designers developed a new image for the site, they created 25 wireframes, desktop and mobile, and re-designed its iconographies, they also designed and generated user manuals. Regarding CMS, we laid out around 25 custom-made pages. Regarding its technology, we replaced WordPress for Laravel. 

And here comes the best part: We developed five types of widgets according to different content types. Each of them has custom functions according to its characteristics. We also extended its language options from English, Spanish, Chinese and Portuguese! All translations were done using Amazon AWS machine learning. 

There is more! Its homepage is now 100% manageable. We developed five types of layouts that the client could choose from. They can duplicate, move, and customize its look and content! And talking about content, also massive actions to modify and organize are allowed. 

We also developed functions that allow flowing communication between readers and authors. Each author has a profile where they can receive private messages from users (readers and other authors), and it works like a private chat room. Also, commenting on articles is easy now, and our clients can answer and administer them. The author gets a notification when receiving a new comment on his writing. This function facilitates the exchange of ideas. 

Last but not least, we enhanced its functions to measure the site’s results. By upgrading its tag system, we can now track the tags that are most used, how many clicks they get, and export that data for advertising campaigns. Also, articles can now be graded, giving every writer a total score that serves as an efficiency measure.  

We are still working on more updates and extensions. But for now, the speed of the site images, loading page, and organization of content have remarkably improved.  

If you find this interesting, stay tuned to know what actions we carry out regarding SEO and its marketplace. And if you want to know further about this work, contact us!