H2 are the leading quoted source regarding the value of the global gambling sector. They specialise in providing the most comprehensive data across all major gambling markets as well as offering bespoke consultancy to businesses worldwide.
The H2 team approached Absolute to build a bespoke, future-facing digital platform while also strengthening their brand in order to increase awareness. The brief required Absolute to develop a multi-level web presence which included a modern public-facing website, an interactive subscriber area with search based analytics, and an admin area to allow them to manage it all.
Understanding the brief
One of the most important requirements of the brief was to make significant improvements to the user experience offered online, particularly when considering their paying subscribers. Some felt that the user interface of the previous system could be more intuitive and that certain limitations were affecting its usability. Our creative and digital teams worked closely together in order to ensure that this criteria was met in the best way possible.
With such a vast amount of data available, one feature that needed throrough consideration was how a subscriber would find and access the data they were looking for. To tackle this we created a tagging system which allows the data to be searched or filtered across a range of relevant criteria before returning the results in the most suitable format from a number available including a variety of charts, graphs and tables as well as the raw data files themselves.
Building an intelligent brand
We wanted the H2 brand to have authority whilst looking clean and contemporary. We created a brand marque using the H2 characters while emphasising the company offering of data intelligence. The introduction of the ‘bottom line’ brand device is used across all brand touch-points to highlight the main aspects of the services they provide. Supporting icons were also created to illustrate key points, along with Apercu – a clean and contemporary typeface that could bring the brand forward. The brand assets were then applied across a range of printed promotional items which are used at industry events all over the world.
A technical approach
Building the subscriber area was the most technical aspect of this project but we still wanted the subscriber area to feel cohesive with the brand while letting the data do the talking. Therefore, we opted to use the brand iconography to navigate the users around a clean and simple to use interface. The large datasets meant that a strong foundation was required for the framework and by developing a bespoke API we have ensured the system is fast and dynamic, functioning more like an application than a website. Meanwhile, the addition of a personalised user dashboard makes it feel intuitive and intelligent through the inclusions of hand-picked statistics and a following function that provides one-click access to their favoured data sets and notifications of any updates to these. This also provides a lead user of a multi-user organisation to manage their subscription and the associated accounts.
Bespoke content management
With all of this going on the H2 team needed somewhere that they could easily manage it all, so we built upon the framework of the subscriber area to provide a seamless experience for them to do so. Enhancing the user dashboard gave them access to an overview of statistics relevant to the system, its users, and the data itself. We also extended the user management area to include subscription registrations and renewals. This was built with serious consideration for security with a multi-level access system that also provides a demo area for potential subscribers to try. The tagging system was utilised so that data could be updated as easily as their subscribers could view it while also catering for mass data imports
Result
The result is a public facing site which breaks the conventional rules of a corporate website. Opting for a responsive design consisting of dual panels we created the illusion of an ever-changing layout. Through the use of animated SVG graphics we have brought the data to life while representing its constantly changing nature.
The subscriber section now has a fresh look and feel, making data easily searchable for subscribers. The login area also has brand new functionality, which allows users to generate bespoke reports and charts based on a large collection of regularly updated analytical data points.
We also introduced a live demo area, where potential subscribers can access a real replication of the subscriber area, before committing to sign up. This has proved invaluable for new business sales.