Fred Williams Homebuilders is one of the leading Home builders in the state of Georgia.  They came to us with the task of giving their website a more up-to-date look that would give them a better overall image online.  We were also asked to develop a property listings module that would allow them to list their available properties on the site.

#1 Reorganization and Functionality

The functionality and organization of this site was a key step in the design and development process.  The FWHB site would have to be user friendly in order for visitors to find exactly what they were looking for. We gathered all the information that was given to us by the client and reorganized the navigation, as well as how the sections would link to one another in a smart and efficient way.  Another challenge with this site was the property listings area.  Here we had to dynamically get the system to display the correct properties in the specific “Communities” where they were located. All in all it was a very challenging project that we tackled in a smart way with a very satisfying outcome.

#2 Art Direction

For the Design portion of this project we had to stay true to the company’s signature green color.  The challenge, and the one thing the client wanted to avoid, was to over utilize the color due to its brightness.  What we decided to do was combine the bright green with some darker colors in the gray scale, making the green stand out, but without it being overpowering.  For the layout of the page we went with a clean and simple approach that allows visitors to clearly find the specific area of the site they were interested on. We also picked some imagery that was warm and inviting, such as photos of happy families at their new home, giving the site a feeling of trust and reliability.

#3 Development and Programming

In this portion of the project we built the site using clean code up to the W3.org standards, and we used our Content Management System allowing the client to update the site’s general text and image content at will. We also developed a custom Property Listings Module that allows the client to manage the available property listings through the CMS. The system organizes and displays the properties by communities and by price. A search engine tool has also been added for the visitor to be able to find the property they are looking for through specific criteria: Price, square footage, number of rooms, number of bathrooms, and community.

#4 Quality Assurance & Testing

For this project we had to do extensive testing and debugging on the property listings module. The properties had to be dynamically arranged by type, community and price.  Also we had to test the search engine within the site to make sure the correct results would appear every time.  We Also had to check for cross browser compatibility, making sure the site worked and displayed properly on all modern browsers (IE6 and 7, Safari, Firefox, Opera). For IE6 some png image, javascript fixes were put into place and the site was all finished.  Overall a great project and and a great outcome.