Information and inspiration about the railroad and its stations

Request

Bureau Spoorbouwmeester wanted a future-proof website with simpler content management where all visitors have a good experience in finding relevant information. Also, the searchability by search engines (SEO) needed to be improved.

Solution

With well-structured and decoupled content, we designed a completely new, dynamic site.

Result

A visually attractive, consistent site that was partly created by the very valuable input of the daily users of Spoorbeeld.nl

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Anyone who performs work on the railroad, train or station can find relevant information on Spoorbeeld.nl. We started talking to some of these people to learn how we could optimize their experience.

This way we were able to determine the most important needs, tasks and barriers of the users. We then visualized all these requirements in a clickable prototype. So not an abstract and insignificant list of requirements in a long Excel sheet, no, a real working prototype.

This not only helped in communication with Bureau Spoorbouwmeester. The site's users were also able to get an idea of the proposed design at an early stage. The new set-up turned out to be clear, the information could be found quickly and, amongst other things, by using many photos to offer the site more inspiration. It also provided a good basis for estimating the realization.

In addition to the usability requirements for site visitors, Bureau Spoorbouwmeester wanted a future proof site with good searchability by search engines (SEO) and easier content management. Topics to which natural content design (well-structured and decoupled content) - could provide an answer.

By decoupling content, that content becomes reusable for other pages. Example: instead of placing an architect's biography on several pages (and therefore having to manage it), we build one component with information about the relevant architect. You can then use that component on multiple pages, such as a page about a certain station, but also on an overview page of architects. The content can even be used (via API) on other websites. This makes content more consistent and you only have to manage it once.

Many website visitors have a design background. In the rail sector, a lot of attention is paid to consistent spatial quality. Aesthetics, consistency and leaving something meaningful turned out to be important values not only for Bureau Spoorbouwmeester, but also for visitors to their site.

Bureau Spoorbouwmeester's house style, with form follows function as the leitmotif, is also really based on these values. There is a fixed color frame for the three main types of information and a very clear and attractive visual frame has been set up for the paper documents. By translating this house style to the website, we have realized a visually attractive, consistent site. Photography is also an important part of the corporate identity.

The actual realization of all the designs in Drupal 9 and the migration of the content was obviously not always easy. But working with building blocks (atomic design) provided a good basis. In addition, good cooperation and regular consultation on the details proved to be a good way for all parties to achieve a stable website step by step.

We look back on a very pleasant cooperation with Cinnamon, the developing party. And we are very proud of the joint outcome.