griffintechnology.com (2007)

This is the very first iteration of the current Griffin Technology company website, launched near the end of 2007.

The previous Griffin site, which had been launched around the time I came on board (summer ‘06), was built from the ground up in PHP, with a backend managed through a bare-bones Ruby on Rails scaffolding. It was somewhat sufficient, but the rapid growth of our product line had fast outpaced the codebase, resulting in numerous code redundancies and general all-around bloat.

With the help of Ben Curtis (a freelance Rails developer), we built the version you see here — again from the ground up, but this time in pure Rails.

I was responsible for all CSS and visual design, as well as the core navigation. We worked hard to figure out how to best correlate our product line, which was (and still is) a complex web of compatibilities, functions, and categories. Central to the Product screen is a detailed device browser, allowing customers to quickly find products compatible with their particular model of iPod.

Thanks to new iPods, the iPhone, and the rapid expansion of Griffin’s case line, this web rebuild was just in time. It scaled easily to accommodate the wave of new SKUs that hit the market in 2008.

Product pages themselves also featured the same device bar format, allowing quick and accurate compatibility checks.

Thanks to the new account/cart/checkout system, we dramatically decreased cart abandonment and increased per-visitor revenue. The new website also introduced many features that were long overdue, including user accounts & order history, an integrated administration system (which meant faster, more consistent site updates), and various administration levels to allow our Support team and copywriters greater control over the support index and product information, respectively.

Check out the 2008 refresh for details on the current site design.