The Interaction Consortium

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Head of Digital of Australian Museum

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

The Australian Museum in Sydney is Australia’s first museum with over 21 million scientific specimens and cultural objects in our collections.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire The Interaction Consortium to accomplish?

• Redevelopment of our website
• User experience design of website
• Website maintenance and continual improvement

SOLUTION

How did you find The Interaction Consortium?

Referral

Why did you select The Interaction Consortium over others?

• High ratings
• Close to my geographic location
• Pricing fit our budget
• Great culture fit
• Good value for cost
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from The Interaction Consortium were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

After thorough research and strategic planning, conducted with the help of several other suppliers, the Australian Museum (AM) issued a tender for a full redesign and redevelopment of our flagship website, which was awarded to the Interaction Consortium (IC) in early 2018. IC worked with the AM to carry out the initial rebuild which launched in late 2018 and have continued to add additional features and maintain the website up to the present day.
 A pivotal aspect of the project involved managing a vast amount of existing content. To address this, IC developed data migration tools to transfer 11,000 legacy pages to the new CMS, allowing for a blend of migrated content and new material. Migrating these pages along with careful planning of redirects by AM staff contributed to maintaining the our online profile as a trusted source of scientific information.
 The new CMS introduced a modular design system, rooted in the museum's brand guidelines which empowers content editors with freedom to create and lay out content within an approved design and avoids the limitations of fixed-template designs by taking a component-driven approach. 
The project also saw the implementation of long-term infrastructure to support not only the website but various digital services through custom integrations with systems like Fotoware for Digital Asset Management (DAMS), ThankQ for Customer Relationship Management (CRM), and Centaman and (eventually) Tessitura for Ticketing and Membership. These enable editors to create user journeys from content browsing to eventually purchasing tickets to visit exhibitions and potentially join as Museum members.
The project has continued post-launch, focusing on enhancing the digital ecosystem. The web platform has provided a foundation for innovations like web-based Guided Tours, Digital Publications. The revitalised website was celebrated as the Best Institution Website at the 2019 MAPDA Awards.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

The australian.museum website maintained Google page rankings post migration to the new CMS and has continued to grow reach in digital visitation by more than 20% annually.

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

Iterative development with weekly WIP meetings to discuss and sort product backlog. IC's methodology prioritised the project's objectives and outcomes over the technological pathways, ensuring that solutions were directly aligned with the museum's needs. Their approach has facilitated meaningful, sustainable, long-term outcomes and also reinforced our commitment to sustainability in digital innovation.

What was your primary form of communication with The Interaction Consortium?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

IC have become an extension to our small Digital team and have maintained excellent communication throughout a complex project. The digital design extension of our new brand was particularly impressive, as well as the development team's expertise to realise our aspiration to update the museum’s content management system and meet the growing demands and expectations of a modern website.

Are there any areas for improvement or something The Interaction Consortium could have done differently?

Monitoring budget in an ongoing agile project was initially an issue, however they have addressed this to ensure we have transparency over the effort involved in the website maintenance.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the CEO of energyOS

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

energyOS delivers a software platform that lets utilities design and launch new products and services.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire The Interaction Consortium to accomplish?

• UI Development and Maintenance

SOLUTION

How did you find The Interaction Consortium?

Referral

Why did you select The Interaction Consortium over others?

• Great culture fit
• Good value for cost
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from The Interaction Consortium were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

We engaged the Interactive Consortium to create a customer facing user interface for a suite of digital services offered by one of Australia's leading utilities to its mass-market customers.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

The development and then launch of a consumer facing user interface.

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

They are an outstanding team that effectively became an extension of our company.  They attended client meetings and were deeply involved in the launch of an innovative digital services platform by a energy utility.

What was your primary form of communication with The Interaction Consortium?

• In-Person Meeting
• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

The IC were essentially a strategic partner to us.  What most impressed us was their team's technical competence and their preparedness to work with us to accommodate a demanding schedule. 

Are there any areas for improvement or something The Interaction Consortium could have done differently?

No.  

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

 I am the Head of Marketing of an Art Gallery

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

We form a part of a boulevard of historic cultural institutions.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire The Interaction Consortium to accomplish?

• Transform the website as part of a digital strategy

SOLUTION

How did you find The Interaction Consortium?

Other

Why did you select The Interaction Consortium over others?

Successful in government procurement process

How many teammates from The Interaction Consortium were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

A major pillar of our digital strategy was the development and implementation of a new Content Management System (CMS), as the existing CMS had major operational limitations, and lacked the capacity to be sufficiently updated to meet our changing needs. The key deliverables of the project included technical design, CMS and implementation based on existing designs.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

A functioning and integrated CMS platform

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

Their project management was excellent, and all items were delivered on time.

What was your primary form of communication with The Interaction Consortium?

Virtual Meeting

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

Great knowledge of museum and arts sector

Are there any areas for improvement or something The Interaction Consortium could have done differently?

Very occasionally there have been miscommunications around quoting for other projects, with differences in scoping versus execution.