Website Design & Development

NDL

The brief

We’ve been working with NDL for over 10 years. In fact, they were actually one of our first ever clients! As with anything that stands the test of time, throughout the years we have delivered numerous upgrades and reskins to their website. With a refreshed focus on key markets, and revised messaging, it was time to deliver a brand-new responsive website.

What we did

We delivered a website that is focussed towards generating new business via web enquiries, event sign-ups and organic search performance, whilst still recognising and supporting their existing customers through a members’ only area, which includes specialised content, service request functions, a community forum for easy communication and product download availability.

Visit the website

It was time to let the creativity flow

As this was a completely new website, our design team had a blank canvas to really let their creativity flow. It was important that we positioned NDL in their new niche, which is the tech and software market for public sector organisations, as well as making sure their brand really came across throughout the whole site. Using background videos, clear calls to action and cross-content linking such as success stories alongside key services, we delivered a visually compelling, but easy to use interface for NDL’s potential and existing customers.
NDL Homepage on Mobile - Pixelbuilders
NDL Website on iPhone - Pixelbuilders

Playful animations create some serious personality​


Our developers chose to build the new site on Umbraco 8 due to the scalability and the security features that the .NET technology offered.
 
It was also important that the site was split into two. The front-end of the website being the key sales tool for the NDL team, which covers the case studies, services, and events (using an integration with Eventbrite for easy booking), while the back end provides a whole host of special features. There is an integration with NDL’s bespoke CRM for access approval, a forum, service updates, and last but no means least, the additional gated content which includes the ability to download apps from NDL’s very own App Store.

And speaking of special features, one of our favourite parts of this project was the creation of a bespoke user import function. To create this bespoke user import, it was important to first understand how to extend the back office within Umbraco to create custom plugins. Shoutout to Umbraco for the documentation and tutorials on this, they were super easy to follow! Using our vast array of JavaScript & .Net development knowledge, our developers were comfortably able to build on top of the foundations Umbraco provided to create a simple 3 step system, which would allow NDL to import structured CSVs containing their user account details, as well as review this data and either import all or (if desired) import individual users only – another shoutout but this time to the NDL team for providing the secure web services we needed for integration, allowing their customers to log service requests securely!

A website with style and substance​


The feedback, particularly on the interface, has been great, with hundreds of customers already ported over from the old site and many more registering each day. We got a fantastic review from Sophie, NDL’s in-house marketer! Here’s what she had to say…
NDL Website Forms on iPhone - Pixelbuilders
“The team at Pixelbuilders have been instrumental in creating a brand-new website that closely matches with our brands core values, mission and vision. The finished product is something the whole team is proud of and it allows us to clearly share important community stories, public sector events and our offering. The close collaborative work with Martin, Ollie and the development team has made our website ambitions a reality in only 3 months."
 

Sophie McHugh,
In-house Marketer,
NDL Software