The What:

Update and redesign an in-house web site, and in so doing, integrate three very different divisions as well as domestic and international operations.

And How:

With Wood Preservation, Utilities, and Railroad Divisions, Osmose not only serves different markets, but does so from different addresses. Add to that the company's extensive international operations and the need to coordinate decision-making between more than a half-dozen company managers and vice presidents, and you have a web site whose development presented information architecture challenges of the highest order.

One of the benefits of working with an ad agency is our ability to get to the bottom of a communication issue that our clients might not be able to see because of their proximity to the issues. This proved to be the case for Osmose, where overlaps between divisions and domestic and international operations threatened to complicate the site with redundant content and navigation headings.

Flynn & Friends solved the problem by dealing not only with divisional leaders, but also with product managers. We acted as an information go-between, pointing out places in the site (and by extension, within the company) where reporting lines and organization could be simplified or streamlined.

The end result was an elegantly simple, four-wide navigation system that makes getting into the site straightforward and easy. A search engine further improves the site's usability.

www.osmose.com