Mitsubishi Electric
Modern, user-friendly, inspiring – a new website to reflect Mitsubishi Electric’s industry-defining ethos
Following our successful work on The Hub, a compelling blog for Mitsubishi Electric, we were tasked with redesigning and modernising the company’s online presence. We consolidated their large Living Environment Systems website into a sleek new website, underpinned by our accredited User-Centred Design process and essential technologies.
Key stats
37%
fall in the bounce rate
60,000+
increase in average page view per month
Objectives
Mitsubishi Electric is a market-leading manufacturer of advanced, energy efficient heating, cooling and ventilation equipment.
While their existing website had served them well for several years, it was now dated, with an inflexible CMS that meant Mitsubishi Electric couldn’t reflect their cutting-edge technology and brand. But with a new design, there was the opportunity to improve the experience for customers and make information easier to access, whether on PC, tablet or smartphone.
Our aim was to craft a brand-new website that met a wide variety of predefined performance measurements, including a more refined content architecture. But with a host of technologies, product offerings, confusing service offerings and a diverse audience to contend with, the task before us was highly complex.
- Persona optimisation - Optimise and tailor the user experience (UX) for each audience group.
- Information architecture (IA) - Produce a clearer IA to consolidate multiple product sites, features and masses of content.
- Content management - Construct a flexible CMS to give easy control and management to the marketing team and content owners.
An Engaging New Content Strategy
From the very beginning, a key challenge was the presentation of complicated technical information in a user-friendly way. To help us discover a better, simpler way to present this information, we conducted extensive, inclusive user research, user testing and stakeholder interviews.
From our research and collaborative workshops with Mitsubishi Electric, we discerned four very different audiences. These were the installers and engineers who purchase the company’s equipment; the consultants who specify the equipment in construction projects; and corporate end users and homeowners, who can benefit from using Mitsubishi Electric equipment.
Identifying these personas allowed us to construct an intuitive approach to content, providing high level information with the option to delve much deeper. This approach accommodated those with little knowledge who were benefit-driven, and those who really wanted or needed to know the nuts and bolts.
What’s more, we audited all content across Mitsubishi Electric’s product sites, which were arranged by product rather than audience type. Through a robust design that combined simplicity with stimulating visuals, we outlined a content strategy that delivered relevant information and support where the different user types needed it most.
Building a CMS That Works
Mitsubishi Electric also wanted a flexible CMS that was easier to maintain, update functionality and upload content to than the existing website. The aim was also to improve reporting so the company could tailor its customer experience better.
To help, we built the new website in SilverStripe, a comprehensive content management system with exceptional flexibility.
Most excitingly, our in-house developers coded an innovative new plugin so Mitsubishi Electric wasn’t tied to using pre-defined page templates.
Our bespoke SilverStripe plugin allows Mitsubishi Electric to construct new pages using pre-developed interface blocks. Full client flexibility was our goal, so we took the CMS to the next level and provided their team with a page builder.
A Holistic User Experience
Our work for Mitsubishi Electric was multi-faceted and complex, but one of our biggest focuses was how to improve the Help & Support page. This was to ensure that customers could access the information they needed quickly and conveniently, thereby reducing unnecessary calls to the helpdesk.
Following our in-depth user research and iterative design process, we introduced a revamped Help & Support page. In this new design, Frequently Asked Questions were brought to the top with the aim of bringing relevant content to the user quickly.
As with any business, customer conversions are an important project metric. But due to the complexity of designing and installing heating, ventilation and air conditioning products, ordering with Mitsubishi Electric isn’t simply a case of adding a product to the basket and getting it delivered.
It was identified that the procurement process goes through the installing engineers, with the end customers getting in touch with an installation team, rather than Mitsubishi Electric itself. To make this conversion process as simple as possible, we built a ‘Find an Installer’ tool to streamline the user experience further.
Another improvement to user experience came from better enquiry management. The previous website had a lot of content, but it wasn’t as easy to access as Mitsubishi Electric wanted, which led to unnecessary enquiries to the call centre.
To combat this, we introduced a smart suggestion interface that is customisable on every page. Our new on-page enquiry form brought information such as the Product Catalogue and various brochures within easy reach. Taking a data-driven design approach, we can now give users the answers they need before they send an enquiry.
The Finished Result
We’re thrilled that the new Mitsubishi Electric website is now live. After last year’s successful launch of The Hub, which receives over 5,000 unique visitors a month, we believe this new website will enjoy great successes of its own.
In fact, just five months after launch, Mitsubishi Electric had seen a 37% drop in its bounce rate, and an increase of 60,000 page views per month on average.
With a user-centred design and flexible, high-quality technology underpinning the entire website, never before has Mitsubishi Electric been so prepared to achieve their online business objectives.
Key stats
37%
fall in the bounce rate
60,000+
increase in average page view per month