Opportunity
Positech is what we privately call “the assembly line behind the assembly line.” The company designs and builds the largest selection of custom and pre-engineered manipulators -- machines that help assembly workers handle large and oftentimes dangerous materials as they build products on an assembly line.
This particular project was complex on many different levels. Our research of the target users found that different user profiles searched and browsed for products very differently – looking for manipulators by capacity, by industry and by a specific positioning challenge.
If that wasn’t enough, the Positech product lines had their own complexity. There were two different brands of manipulators, Positech and Conco. There was also a line of “end-effectors” that could be added to certain manipulators based on the type of positioning needed.
Strategy
We conducted user testing on the Positech website, as well as three other competitor’s websites, to determine what features, content and functionality were most valuable to users (both existing and potential customers). Almost all of our design decisions on the Positech website were made based on findings we got from the user testing and competitive analysis. In fact, we created a hybrid slider application for the Positech homepage that allowed them to showcase products in several ways, including the ability to view by brand.
We also found during our user testing that the primary audience of engineers was very visually oriented – they wanted lots of visuals and an easy way to access all of the information, rather than having to read through long copy blocks. We also learned from both our competitive analysis and testing that the users wanted detailed information without having to download it. So the tabs on this page allowed the user to see advantages, videos, case studies and tech specs.
Solution
Positech has an extremely robust website that repositions their brand, their products and their expertise. Users have access to a wealth of information to help them make their purchase decision. And the Positech marketing, sales and customer service staff have a website they can use as a marketing machine, sales tool and repository of product information and process expertise.
