Sector(s)
Project Team
Bo Simmons, PRESIDENT & FOUNDER
Angie Lane, STUDIO DIRECTOR
David Smallwood, LEAD DEVELOPER
Grady Wring, DRUPAL DEVELOPER
By creating a site redesign centered on the mobile user with "app-like" functionality, Cool Blue was able to help the Alliance Theatre expand their site to take center stage for all of their users.
Other Highlights
Davey Awards
2017 Davey Awards Silver for Websites
Davey Awards
2017 Davey Awards Gold for Mobile Features
Communicator
Award of Distinction - Performing Arts
AIMA
Finalist - Web & Interactive Marketing - Brand Awareness
WebAwards
Outstanding Mobile Website
Communicator
Silver - Performing Arts
Davey
Silver - Branding
Davey
Silver - Best Practices
WebAwards
Best in Industry - Entertainment
WebAwards
Outstanding Website - Arts & Entertainment
About the project
The Goal
A key initiative of this website redesign was to attract non-traditional users and increase the percentage/number of external users like outside students, partners, & companies. Increasing brand awareness and advocacy (i.e. donations) as well as educational awareness (i.e. class and educational offering sign-ups) amongst current and new users was the secondary goal.
The launch included an enhanced Drupal version 8 CMS intended to empower the Alliance Theatre to update, curate, and archive web content. While the previous Alliance Theatre redesign from 2013 resulted in a steady increase of visitors, the goal was to take the success metrics to the next level with a focus on mobile device users. The new site aimed to increase both desktop and mobile user engagement (i.e. time on-site, page views, etc.) as well as improve the user experience (i.e. greater conversion rates, increase in online ticket sales, etc.). It was important to maintain cross-browser and mobile functionality to allow for users to locate offsite venues, purchase tickets and sign-up for classes & camps with ease.
The Result
The project was planned around the 2017/18 season and the new site launched in early July 2017. Our delivery of the new site included an integrated Drupal content management system with a modern, user-friendly navigation and design across multiple devices.
Notable New Features:
- Searchable performance productions with new “filters” to drill down
- Calendar date picker for easy date selection and checkout on mobile devices
- Custom map on each production for dining/transportation guidance that was mobile friendly
- Customization for mapping venues that supports the offsite 2017-18 performance season will be repurposed for years to come when the Alliance returns to its home in the Woodruff Arts Center
Why Drupal was chosen
The Challenge
The Alliance Theatre, the Southeast’s preeminent Tony Award winning theater company, is known for its world-class entertainment and distinguished acting education program. The theater community consists of dedicated staff members, a board of volunteers, and numerous artists and instructors working daily to put award-winning performances on stage.
With over 40% of user traffic coming from mobile devices, the primary challenge of this new site was to enhance the mobile user’s experience. This was accomplished by creating a native “app-like” feel while expanding the Alliance’s Education and class offerings. Additional challenges were planning for the “off-site” season and functions supporting up to 7 offsite locations for the 2017-18 season. Along with a fresh visual design, allowing for easy access to high-res images and other media resources were key initiatives in the redesign.
Technical Specifications
Drupal version:
Key modules/theme/distribution used:
Breakpoint
Manage breakpoints and breakpoint groups for responsive designs.
CKEditor
WYSIWYG editing for rich text fields using CKEditor.
Contact
Enables the use of both personal and site-wide contact forms.
Custom Menu Links
Allows administrators to create custom menu links.
Path
Allows users to rename URLs.
Toolbar
Provides a toolbar that shows the top-level administration menu items and links from other modules.
Geolocation
Provides a simple geolocation field type to store and display location data (lat, lng).