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Background
Online Electronics is a "globally focused electronic manufacturing and services organization" that provides custom printed circuit boards to a wide range of clients with the goal of providing the lowest price possible in the minimum amount of time. They are "dedicated to providing our customer base with the best quality and expertise in the market" and provide many options that make them a unique and preferable choice when it comes to circuit board ordering and construction.
Our client had a website that they were unsatisfied with. Because they needed a website built from the ground up, Online Electronics came to SYDCON knowing we were equipped to handle their request for a totally unique, custom-built website that would allow them to advertise their product along with a high amount of customer interaction.
Objectives
Online Electronics not only wanted an online representation of their product, but a list of their services, photo catalogues of their work, the ability to produce quotes online, the option for customers to build their own circuit boards according to their specific needs, as well as contact and research the company. The following aspects needed to be covered in order for their expectations for the website to be fulfilled:
- Unique visual design that would display all aspects of their offered circuit boards
- Integrate a shopping cart into the website that allows for individual purchases to be made in addition to user-constructed circuit board pricing
- Develop a database that could be used to list different specifications for circuit boards as well as pre-built complete circuit boards
- Allow for a site administrator to make any changes to Online Electronics' available circuit boards or pricing
- Program additional online features:
- Custom ordering system / build-your-own circuit board option
- Contact us form
- Guest accounts
- User registration
Methodology
When applicable, SYDCON, Inc. uses whatever existing scripting language is being used on the current site in order to maintain consistency. Our programmer's familiarity with various scripting languages makes this process easy and effective, as it has been used in multiple projects.
According to the communicated desires of Online Electronics, we drew up a proposal describing the necessary work, a timeline, and a cost. The proposal was mutually accepted and we were able to begin our development process.
A lead designer and expert programmer were assigned to the Online Electronics website project and as a development team employed the following steps in crafting their website:
- Relayed the goals Online Electronics had for their site to our development team
- Engaged in conversations with Online Electronics to determine their desired visual appearance for the website
- Began the design of the website according to said conversations
- Gave a site administrator the ability to manipulate any web content easily through the custom-developed Content Management System
- Database populated with each individual specification attributable to the circuit boards built by Online Electronics as well as pre-built circuits
- Loaded the circuit board information and pricing onto the developed visual front end
- Walked Online Electronics staff through the navigation of their personal website
- Launched the website on the specified date
Technical Approach
The previous website's existing scripting languages (ASP, CSS, HTML, and jQuery) were rewritten to better utilize their capabilities. They now efficiently drive the interaction between site users and the website's database content. An Access backend database was used to store the necessary circuit board information as well as pricing options for individually constructed boards. Our CMS allows for the manipulation of this content while giving the ability to manage orders from onsite and add additional pages as needed through the Content Management System. We interfaced our custom developed shopping cart with the authorize.net E-Commerce API that allows customers to order pre-constructed circuit boards or create unique circuit boards of their own.
Results
Online Electronics is proud of their new website and its capabilities
- Online Electronics now has an online display for their previously constructed circuit boards as well as allow for site users to build their own
- Users are able to click through tabs of their product and construct unique boards of their own. The site also allows for both guest accounts and a user registration
- Staff is able to make any updates to the available circuits, boards, or their prices necessary via the custom-developed Content Management System
- Online Electronics has experienced an increase in clientele with the capability for personal online circuit construction as well as online ordering and shipping
Our project with Online Electronics saw success for various reasons:
- The specific project objectives outlined by Online Electronics before the beginning of the project
- The active participation of Online Electronics during their website's development
- Ability of SYDCON's staff to adhere to guidelines and develop custom programs with precision and dedication