After months of brainstorming, idea rushes, hours spent on designing and writing, then inevitably rewriting and redesigning - it’s finally here: XLAB’s brand new website. It would probably be a lot faster if we outsourced the project, but how does that look for a company, consisting of IT whizzes, right? And after all, who can tell our story better than ourselves? So we rolled up our sleeves and got to work.
We asked ourselves what information the visitors are looking for and how to best present the value our knowledge creates for our partners. To go beyond just presenting our products and solutions. To show the complex activity of the XLAB Research department the way it deserves: it has contributed to 80+ research projects and with that contributed to a greater cause - the greener, smarter, and better future. To present what values guide us through all we do, our culture, and of course, our people - what it’s like to work with us and simply that unique XLAB vibe.
Our main goal was to present the value our knowledge creates for our partners - and the values guiding us along the way.
Our main goal was to present the value our knowledge creates for our partners - and the values guiding us along the way.
Meet the (now slightly more grey-haired) team
The mastermind behind what the website looks like is our designer Anja. What story did she want the design to tell? “XLAB is a complex company, so the challenge was to present it in a simple way. Our main guidance has been simplicity and easy-to-find information. We wanted the site to be trustworthy and professional - with a dash of playfulness. We achieved that with pictures of our team and made our XLAB culture stand out.”
So how does it feel to see the site come alive? “I’m very proud. We put a lot of effort, work, creativity, and love into it. The result is a website the whole XLAB team is proud of. And in addition the marketing team really learned to work as a team throughout the project and connected with each other, which is a great groundwork for all future challenges. But as I always say: websites are a living thing and I’m happy we set a solid ground for future improvements. We’ll gladly keep on working on it, develop and improve it.”
Meet the XLAB marketing team: Ferdi, Špela, Katja, Jasna, Diana and Anja.
Our designer Ferdi, the newest member of the marketing team and blessed among girls (we didn’t fact check but assume it’s what he would tell us), joined the process near the end, but still presented a vital part in designing graphics and animation. How was it like for him to jump on the project? “As a newcomer, it was interesting to see how everyone in XLAB works together. This motivated me to work harder and made me feel that I am part of a strong team. I am happy how the website turned out and I hope our visitors agree,” he says.
What was the goal he was following with his designs? “We wanted the graphics not to take up too much focus and support the content, so the word “subtle” was used a lot. We were chasing a sweet spot between the technical and artistic side that I believe we achieved it in the end."
The one who found ways of implementing our sometimes ever so slightly grandiose ideas is our developer Špela. What was the process like for her? “The last weeks were a bit stressful, but letting our values guide us brought us to the finish line in time. This doesn’t mean the work is over, but still, we’re very proud of what we achieved. It was a challenge, but a nice one. I’m happy about my role in it and about everything I learned in the process.”
Diana was one of the first people initiating the process, but then life blessed her with a baby, so she looked at the whole process from afar. “I was a bit sad when I first saw the renewed page - simply because I couldn’t be a part of the development process. While I was changing diapers 😊 my team did a great job! The page is clean, simple, nicely readable with custom graphics, and with a bunch of photos of our colleagues. You can imagine how good it is to be part of our collective 😉. I am proud of such a talented and motivated team.”
We wanted the website to be trustworthy and professional - with a dash of playfulness.
We wanted the website to be trustworthy and professional - with a dash of playfulness.
And the one overseeing it all, taking care we go in the right direction, pulling us back when our creativity ran too wild and nudging us when it was not wild enough, greatly leading us to the result we’re proud of is Katja, the head of marketing. How did the whole process feel to her? “Chaotic at first, so many things that needed to be done, but with a great team, everything is so much easier. We wanted the page to be modern, yet simple. Easy to find relevant information. We reduced the number of pages. And of course, we wanted our XLAB culture to shine through. There is no better way to achieve this than by using photos of our colleagues. Our positive energy, our true XLAB spirit.”
So is she satisfied with the result? “Very. It is a great feeling to release something that we wanted to do for so many years. And we knew how important this project was for the whole company. Today, the first thing that everyone does is to Google you. Or in our case, in the IT business, they DuckDuckGo you 😃. It is of utmost importance to have a modern website that presents the benefits of our offering and expresses our culture,” she says.
And oh yeah, if you notice a few sparks in the text, it’s the humble work of the copywriter, the author of this blog, but that doesn’t diminish her impartiality in any way 😉
To sum up: we’ve tried to include all of what we do and who we are, but still make it very simple for visitors to find information quickly. And make it a nice, informative, and entertaining experience. Did we succeed? You be the judge. And as always, we’re here for any thoughts or questions you might have.
