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Web-based application development

CMDS has vast experience in designing and building user interfaces for clients in an effort to streamline their business-critical processes and improve the overall efficiency of the physical office. In some cases, CMDS has been able to design systems that alleviate the roles of physical employees and entirely automate processes that otherwise utilized precious manpower and hours to achieve.

CMDS approaches each UI design with the goal of keeping the design simple, easy to understand, and modernize the processes in order to yield the highest efficiency possible.

Case Study

To cite a specific example, CMDS was contracted to plan, design, create, and support a User Interface for a client that achieved the goals of the project through the integration of the following elements:

Ease of Use

The client’s prior system was inefficient due to poor planning and execution. The first project goal was to increase the ease of use of the new User Interface in order to allow a wider range of less technical site administrators to leverage the power of the tool and complete basic business tasks. Through a meticulous planning and research phase, along with hours of client interviews, CMDS created a system that provided administrators with the access necessary to quickly perform tasks with minimal training.

Through the creation of a Dashboard with business critical information and accordion-style navigation, CMDS created a system that no longer intimidated less technical users and provided immediate and easy access to key information and metrics.

Content Management System

Another important aspect of the UI was the integration of a proprietary Content Management System that allowed administrators with no coding or HTML background the ability to create new site pages and manage content and images across existing site sections. The implementation of a Content Management System for this client was crucial as the nature of their business necessitated the constant update of business-critical information for distribution to the public through the front end of the website.

The Content Management System included the use of a What You See Is What You Get (WYSIWYG) interface. Users felt immediately comfortable with such a tool as it took about as much experience to operate as moderate knowledge in Microsoft Word. Additionally, search engine optimization elements were included in the Content Management System so that each page could be properly optimized for best search engine results.

Invoice integration

The client’s previous system created an unnecessary amount of paper and steps when processing invoices. The old system required the printing and faxing of invoices for each purchase. CMDS integrated the entire invoice process and automated the creation and sending of the initial invoice at the point of payment. Each invoice contained dynamic information based on the product/service purchased with explicit instructions for the purchaser to take after receipt of the invoice to complete the purchase process. All invoices were associated with the client’s record and immediately archived and available through the member record for future reference.

The automation of the invoice process saved the client hundreds of hours in manpower and thousands of dollars in lost revenue due to an outdated and uneconomical system.

Member Management

One of the largest challenges throughout the entire project was how to manage an existing client database of nearly 90,000 members. Through the reformatting of the existing database, CMDS was able to create a streamlined and powerful member management section that enabled client administrators and sales associates the ability to view comprehensive client records as well as find clients through a powerful search tool, that included search filters by client name, email, phone, status, membership date, and other critical elements. The upgrading of the client’s member management system saved hours in lost time picking through the old, unproductive management tool.

Search Engine Optimization

A major project goal was to achieve success through search engine optimization on thousands of key phrases across hundreds of article and data collection pages. CMDS built a proprietary tool (informally called the “Tag Trigger”) that allowed the client to create keyword universe documents and upload to the system. The system would then cross reference this list of key phrases during the creation of each new page and article and automatically tag the article with the appropriate key phrases found in the content. Users had the ability to dynamically add new words and key phrases during the creation of content pages. When a new key phrase was added, the system would then intuitively search the database of hundreds and pages, find references to the new key phrases, and tag the existing page with the new words.

This initiative took the guesswork out of search engine optimization for each new content page and allowed for the client to be found on thousands of keywords across Google, Yahoo, Bing, and other popular search engines.

Granular Analytics

With such a large system and member base, the client needed a way to easily draw key metrics on the usage of the site, sales, success of content, and member makeup in order to track past initiatives and plan for future endeavors. CMDS built a robust and granular tracking interface, which gave the client control over the following data via specific date ranges and other filters:

• Sales performance – online, offline, revenue per member, revenue per product category
• Conversion rate per site topic and product
• Keyword usage across all site content
• Member loyalty – last login date and number of times logged in by member
• Sales and conversions per tracking and promotional codes
• Members, opt-in rate and revenue at the service/product level
• Revenue per country
• Revenue per sales representative
• Other important metrics

Administrative Access Control

The client system also gave super administrators the ability to control site’s administrator’s access to the system. Access levels were created and assigned to system users with the super user managing access for each user type (sales, editor, writer, publisher, etc.). The system also contained an IP lock, which if enabled, blocked access at the system at the user level for users trying to enter the system outside of the office IP address.

Automated Upselling and Marketing to Existing Clients

With such a large member base, the client needed a way to automatically create upsell opportunities with existing members without the need for manual intervention. CMDS created an automated drip marketing system that sent upsell emails to members based on the sales pipelines created by site administrators. System users had the ability to associate upsell products with other products in order to create a sales pipeline that was automatically disseminated by the system during set intervals to users within the base product. Once the member was up sold to a higher product level, a new drip series would commence – the client who needed only perform minimal tasks at the creation of the system was constantly touching the member database via email.

The system also contained an abandoned cart functionality that would automatically detect when users entered their information in the shopping cart but did not complete the purchase. This event triggered another upselling drip email campaign, aimed at bringing the prospective member back to the site in order to complete their purchase.

Email Marketing Campaign

The lifeblood of the client’s business and marketing strategy was email marketing campaigns. The client sent approximately 300,000 emails per day. CMDS created a way for the client to create, manage, and send all emails through the system and gather statistics on the effectiveness of the emails for future follow up. CMDS integrated the system with an enterprise-level email-marketing provider and automated the process of creating emails through the CMDS User Interface, sending the emails through the provider’s server and fetching data from the server to display through the User Interface.

Contact CMDS to discuss your next big project!