Direct Window Supplies Ltd

Bespoke development of an interactive door building and visualisation tool for a local window manufacturer.

We were approached in the summer of 2016 to see if we could help build an interactive door designer – something that would allow customers to choose the size, style, frame, glass and door hardware they wanted, and to see what that door would look like in real time.

We had a set of initial scoping meetings with DWS where we needed to really understand how a door is specified in order to create the right interface for people that would (a) be easy to use and (b) send accurate information to DWS so that an order could be placed.

We worked on interactive wireframes to get a feel for the various screens that would be needed, and used this to show DWS how customers would transition from choosing a style to colour to glass and to hardware, all the while seeing their choices appearing on the screen.

We then ran some basic usability testing sessions with potential customers to validate our decisions and to get signoff from DWS on the approach.

The build took a while to get right, simply because of all the different permutations and combinations of options that a customer could select, and a lot of time was spent testing it to ensure it worked as expected.

Customers can move at will between the various sections, choosing different colours, designs and glass patterns whilst the actual door (and the price) is shown in a sidebar to the right of the screen.

When satisfied, the customer can then place the order, although the website doesn’t handle the actual transaction.

Finally, we created a Content Management System through which new doors and designs could be added, and prices modified for each individual element, ensuring that DWS could manage the system for some time to come.