Case Study: New Orleans Saints
Challenge:
With the success of the 2006 season and the caliber of recent player and staff additions, the Saints old website was no longer an accurate representation of the organization. In addition to not supporting the Saints brand visually, the previous version of the website did not support the full range of content that the New Orleans Saints wanted to provide to their fan base. Content on the site changes rapidly, and the client needed a solution that would allow them to quickly and easily update the content on the site - both from their headquarters in New Orleans as well as on the road. Lastly, the site needed a visual update to provide a fresh, exciting new look for the team.
Cypress Solution:
Cypress Consulting partnered with the Saints to first understand their requirements, and specifically the content and content management requirements for the new site. This approach ensured that the solution that Cypress presented met the demanding content needs of the site. Upon completing interviews across the Saints organization and compiling the requirements for the site, Cypress developed a complete set of Storyboards - outlining the overall functional and content requirements in a visual presentation. Based on these, and the Creative Brief developed with the Saints Marketing and Communications department, Cypress' design team worked with the client to develop cleaner, bolder appearance and to create a streamlined navigation that enables users to quickly find the information they are looking for. Central to the site, and featured prominently in the home page is the 3-tiered content area showcasing Top Stories, Multimedia, and Photo Galleries - each of which are managed by the Saints and updated on a daily basis.
To support the content and content management requirements of the Saints, Cypress implemented a third-party Content Management System (CMS) as a core system within the overall website. Using this web-based system, the Saints can manage the content across the website from both their New Orleans headquarters as well as remote locations such as training camp and road games. Cypress was also employed to design the site infrastructure for the new Saints website. Working with their IT staff we created an overall system architecture and design - which we subsequently built out and brought online in a Seattle-based data center.
Technologies Employed:Strategic Consulting, Design, Project Management, Flash Development, Third-Party Software Integration, .NET Development
