A Foundation of Community

GeoEngineers

Crafting the website for GeoEngineers was a delightful endeavor, as it involved passionate stakeholders eager to narrate the story of their employees rather than just their services. Their deep involvement in the design process, especially in relation to geology and storytelling, made the project truly unique. Given that the website aimed to attract new staff and was developed by and for the existing staff, enthusiasm ran high among all involved parties. Leveraging content and strategic placement, I artfully intertwined narratives of science, location, and people across all projects, creating a captivating digital experience.

About GeoEngineers

GeoEngineers Inc. is an employee-owned engineering and earth science consulting firm founded in Washington State in 1980. With a focus on community building, care for people, and personal ownership, the firm has grown to over 400 diverse experts across the country. They prioritize people by providing cutting-edge services in a down-to-earth package, always placing their clients first.

The Challenge

Tasked with the challenge of creating a website aimed at attracting top talent from across the United States, the client had specific objectives in mind. They sought a robust in-house content management system to facilitate updates from multiple users in various locations, showcasing the exceptional projects the company undertakes.

In addition to highlighting their areas of practice and creating connections between showcased projects and the engineers behind them, the client envisioned a comprehensive system. This system would seamlessly tie in their hiring software, creating a robust careers section to streamline the hiring process and enhance the overall user experience.

The primary goals were clear: attract new clients and talented engineers while ensuring the ongoing ease of maintenance for the website. However, the project gained further complexity as the owner, despite limited design expertise, brought a distinct vision to the table. Navigating this challenge required finesse to align the design seamlessly with the owner’s vision and preferences.

Project Roles

Conceptualization

Conceptualizing and ideating the overall vision and direction for the website project.
Defined project goals and objectives through a thorough discovery process, involving interviews with staff to align aspirations and ensure clarity.

Collaboration & Management

Working with stakeholders, third-party developers, and managing contractors for backend development.
Implementing agile methodologies for effective communication, iterative development, and project alignment.

UI/UX Design & Development

Developing the user interface (UI) and user experience (UX) strategy to ensure a seamless and user-friendly design.
Crafted visual elements and layout of the website through the utilization of interactive prototyping.
Created graphic elements and coded website, insuring a responsive and visually appealing design.

WordPress Implementation

Customizing WordPress for multi-location updates, project connections, and a robust careers section.
Implemented a robust blog platform to showcase both company events and current industry happenings.
Incorporated user-friendly content management features, including sliders, social media feeds, grids with sort functions, and interactive forms.

Testing and Launch

Ensuring website functionality through testing and overseeing successful launch.
Implementing post-launch monitoring and optimization.

Tools Used

Project Management

BaseCamp

UX/UI Design & Wireframing

Gliffy
Slickplan
Adobe Photoshop
Adobe Acrobat

Web Development

Adobe Dreamweaver
HTML5
CSS3
PHP
JavaScript
JQuery
API Integration

WordPress Customization

Custom Theme
Advanced Custom Fields
Custom Post Types & Taxonomies
Dynamic Search Grids
Social Media Aggregator

Testing

Firefox Developer Tools
Google Chrome Developer
Cross-Browser Testing

Analytics and SEO

Google Analytics
Google Webmaster Tools
Yoast SEO

Solutions

Developed dedicated project pages that dynamically pulled in people profiles associated with the project and included a detailed description of the practice area.
Established seamless connections between individual profiles, projects, and practice areas, creating a cohesive and interconnected platform.
Implemented a centralized social media feed page, aggregating content from various digital channels to provide a unified and up-to-date online presence.
Developed a comprehensive career page featuring open job forms, company values, and benefits to streamline the hiring process and provide valuable information to potential candidates.
Implemented a highly customized backend for WordPress, ensuring ease of use for editors managing content and maintaining the website.

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