Project
Complete re-structuring of a first generation search engine dealing with industrial products and services in US and Canada. The world's largest online industrial buying source with a database of over 1,500,000 products/ services, over 52,000 product & service categories, over 148,000 companies containing detailed buying and specifying information which could be cross-referenced with over 2,000 company catalogs (11,000 pages at the time). Thomas Register is one of the worlds largest B2B eCommerce exchanges. This was my first website project in my design career. Phase 1 - 4 re-design (Oct. 1995 - Jan 1996), Phase 5 - solid engineering build (Jan. 1996 - March 1996); New design contracts (April 1996 - Jan. 1997).

Challenge
Start with a first generation website search engine, consisting of an endless scroll of gray pages and chunky blue text links. Re-design the presentation of information so that people can more easily find the exact product/ service they are looking for as efficiently as possible. The solution had to function consistently and maintain it's design elegance on all platforms and browsers.

In October 1995, we were dealing with AOL version 1 - 2, Netscape Navigator (best browser at the time), Microsoft Internet Explorer (small market share at the time) and some other older browsers which customers were still using and we had to support. As a new technology, these browsers were limited in their ability to represent advanced information design concepts, so we treated these limitations as realistic parameters and made up the rules as we went along. At this time frames were very popular, so we decided to use them with care. I worked very closely with some amazingly talented engineers to see how far we could push the technology to realize our innovative solutions. The engineers loved this, since we were both pushing each other to be our best. In the end the customer wins. This is true collaboration. Seeing how far you can make the technology bend to realize the limitless potential of collaborative, creative thinking.

There weren't any resources on how to design in this medium, other than the experience our multimedia studio had in designing interactive experiences for museum kiosks and CD-ROMs and the creative burst of collaborations that were taking place in NYC's Silicon Alley in cross-pollinating ideas with NYU's ITP dept, an early innovator in the online digital interactivity space pioneered by Red Burns. At Tom Nicholson Associates, I advanced my visual storyboarding techniques to incorporate informational interactivity. The whole design industry was going through a time of transformation so we designed for clarity and ease of access of the information at hand. Information design is not a new concept. It is a fundamental core of good graphic design. Later this approach would become known as information architecture. The Internet was simply a new medium for designers to work with.

Results
Through extensive design analysis of the entire site, and client & engineering breifings, created Navigation Design Flowcharts, Content Structure Outline and Information Design Storyboards, resulting in a completely re-structured site. Collaborated with Engineers in Boston and in-house. Provided engineering with primary design style templates. Served as primary client contact to capture and communicate requirements and track project progress. Responsible for budgets and timelines. Extended initial 3 month contract to multiple contracts, eventually bringing in $250,000 in revenues in 1 year and solidified the Client relationship with Tom Nicholson Associates for future projects.

User survey (October 29, 1996)
In a User Survey conducted a few months after the completion of the re-design in late October, 1996, 80% of the users rated the site "better" overall than other websites. 81% of these users were previously researching this information via the big green printed volumes. Majority of users tended to be engineers or top management. Survey submitted by Weinman/Schnee, Inc. NYC.

First batch of user-feedback comments (April 4, 1996):
"Since Kavita et all are all too modest, I thought I'd pass along some selected comments from the first batch of Thomas Register's online user-feedback." --email sent to our team & client, from Tom Nicholson, President.

"WOW! TERRIFIC! GOOD JOB! Looks great (a lot more upscale & what I think most web users expect) & more user friendly. THANKS!"

"Wow! If this gets any better, you'll put me out of business!"

"I really impressed with changes made in the Thomas Register's supplier/product search. You almost have this service to the point where people would pay anywhere from $5 - $10 per month. I understand this took a considerable amount of work as I keep up our homepage. God Bless."

"I like your new layout - easy to use!"

"Great looking site. It should be very successful."

"Hello, This is great stuff. I think that this service of a buyer having the ability to find my product and company this easily is great."

"Congratulations for your wonderful interface! Easy to use, practical, it will save me A LOT of time in research! Thanks a million!"