Beginning in late 2007, petroleum-industry technical services and research provider Shell Global Solutions tapped FG SQUARED for help both in refining its overall website experience and revising the content.

Global Solutions was operating under a tight timeframe to adopt all-new design specifications from its parent Shell Web Group (Shell.com), and the new design initiative was just one facet of the overall project. FG SQUARED also recognized that the client website would benefit from strategic and structural improvements, improved information architecture, custom-templated design options, additional multimedia offerings, and a redirected editorial tone.

As Shell Global Solutions' Strategic Web partner, FG SQUARED helped the client develop the site's approach to better address a more senior audience — namely, chief executive-level decision makers. Site editors de-emphasized marketing-driven language in favor of the concise business insight and technical knowledge that C-level executives respond well to. Likewise, the new site needed to be slimmed down from its existing 600 pages of out-dated content. Thus the agency undertook a comprehensive editorial audit, developed a site map, made specific recommendations on all-new messaging and media (including Flash video and podcasts), and then helped editors develop strategic content accordingly. FG SQUARED also chose individual page templates and created the visual design for every page.

FG SQUARED learned the client CMS, and trained other agency users to use it. The result: FG SQUARED managed the site build from start to finish. Often this was a complex process, dealing with support groups internationally for software help in India, Houston, and the UK. With the client based in the UK, FG SQUARED flexibly planned its meeting availability around UK hours and deadlines. Along the way, FG SQUARED conducted user group testing and, before the project started, put together a website advisory council to help develop the strategy and determine which content would best work within the new structure. Over the course of the year-long project, FG SQUARED participated in Shell Web Group reviews of the new site strategy, design, and content, and steered site improvements based on stakeholder feedback. FG SQUARED coordinated the outside editorial agencies to ensure that the projects stayed on time and on track.

Despite the intricate project scope and a tight deadline, FG SQUARED helped our Shell clients meet their launch deadline successfully! As a result, Shell Global Solutions became the first business site under the Shell.com banner to launch with its new site design.

While the next-generation site has dramatically decreased in scale and scope than from its predecessor (from 600 to approximately 140 pages), today Shell Global Solutions' online home offers visitors deeper information and a higher-quality user experience (including more visuals and richer media). The re-launched site brings a new emphasis on thought leadership, directed primarily to C-level audience members.

In addition, FG SQUARED honed and improved our policies and processes. We added to our expertise in high-level strategic planning and hierarchical requirements gathering, in addition to adding another CMS to our list of competencies. The project lent valuable insight into how we work with disparate groups of stakeholders, and strengthened our experience in working through numerous complexities to get to the messages' essence and to one very solid, sleek site.