The Sussex Innovation Centre (SInC) is one of the premier business incubators in the U.K. Opened in 1996 it provides support for the creation and growth of technology and knowledge based companies in the South East. The Centre, located at the University of Sussex, Falmer, Brighton, provides excellent facilities and is a thriving business environment for over 60 high growth companies working within the I.T., Biotech, Media and Engineering sectors.
The Business Requirement
The existing SInC website required redeveloping in order to improve levels of usability and accessibility, as well as to improve the visual design and reflect SInC's status as a leader in the business incubator sector.
SInC also needed to increase the effectiveness of the promotion of its tenant companies, facilitate communication between the companies and provide additional informational content for them.
Lastly, SInC required an easy-to-use website content management system that would enable SInC staff to manage their own content on the site.
The Sigmer Solution
Sigmer brought its extensive knowledge in website design, usability and accessibility to SInC's brief.
The project was initiated with Sigmer's designers and developers working together with the SInC team to help them identify who their website users were and to anticipate their requirements and expectations, using our successful User Profiling methodology.
The results from this process helped to determine the design and information architecture of the new site, and ensured improved usability for the various website users.
The new website was also designed and developed to achieve compliance with a higher level of accessibility than before, by using Cascading Style Sheets and XHTML. This was achieved without compromise to the look and feel of the site, whose new design fully supports SInC's branding.
Finally, the new website was integrated with Scribe CMS, Sigmer's own website content management system, which has enabled SInC staff to quickly and easily manage the website content without the need for technical expertise.
The Result
Delivered within the required timescale and budget, the new SInC site is a primary communication tool for informing users about SInC's services, promoting its success and showcasing the tenant companies.
The usability of the site has been dramatically improved and now features new sections including a secure area with a notice board for inter-company communication, a company search function which can be specified by keyword and/or sector, a calendar of events happening within the Innovation Centre and a news section.
Scribe CMS has enabled SInC staff to take control of the site's content, thereby saving considerable time and effort.
Scribe CMS has also ensured that the new site is better optimised and easier for the search engines to spider, thereby helping SInC to gain more exposure to potential tenants and investors.
Chris Hudson, Centre Manager at SInC:
“Sigmer were quick to understand our brief and integrated with our team quickly and easily to help us achieve our objectives. We are very pleased with the design and improved usability of the new site, and the Scribe CMS has enabled us to very easily manage the content of the site.”
