Approach.

To begin this project, which was estimated to take 9 months, I began by working directly with the incumbent team to better understand the current set-up, structure and requirement for support of JCB’s global web platform. This involved numerous technical and product based session with the client at JCB’s headquarters.

The project was delivered in a very linear and traditional manner, following a discovery, define, deign and development strategy. This approach worked well for JCB who had a hierarchical approach to the delivery of new designs and product architecture.  

The discovery phase of the project was largely desk research, workshops with JCB’s internal teams and customer insights.  I spent a lot of time with the UX team to create and define a new product hierarchy that would be more logical to the end user.  The current set-up was very internally focused and didn’t necessarily match that of the customers needs.

The define phase outlined the user journey’s and produced a set of wireframes for how the product could evolve.  A large proportion of the solution and technical architecture was done in this phase to ensure the development team would be able to proceed as early as possible.

During the discovery and design phase a creative team at McCann also worked with the JCB Marketing department to create a refreshed JCB brand that would be bolder and more vidid online.  This improved digital corporate identity was incorporated into the web template designs that would ultimately be developed. The build of the platform was done in a more agile fashion, enabling for quicker amends and adjustments.

In order to support the web platform I sourced and set-up a team in Mumbai, India that consisted of six developers, a project manager and QA exec.  This team was set up to work shifts and would support the web platform across 36 countries.

Outcome.

The 1st iteration of the platform was launched in 2017 in the UK.  The following three months saw the complete rollout of the platform to all countries and the set-up of the 24/7 help desk in India.  The new site was a success and it generated more leads to the JCB dealers than the previous version.

JCB remained a client throughout my time at McCann Worldgroup and we continued to develop the digital experience for the customer.  This included a refreshed and updated design in 2019 that was more mobile focused, and an e-commerce platform that was launched during the UK lockdown in 2020 to enable them to sell certain product lines online.  

Methods & Tools.

The information below details a selection of the methodologies, techniques and tools used to deliver the project.