Web Application Development Portfolio
We are extremely proud of the long-term relationships we've formed with our clients over the past 13 years. Most of the work we do is for clients we've known for the majority of those years. Following are descriptions of the projects resulting from those relationships.
Since a lot of our work exists behind password-protected web sites (or completely hidden from view), please contact us for more information about anything you see here. We realize that the term "web application development" is very broad. We would be happy to discuss projects in more detail or provide contact information for references. Our clients love to brag about us.
- BangsLabs.com
V2.0
- ClarkWestern
SubmittalPro™
- Girl Scouts of
Greater Chicago
- Other
Sites
Bangs Laboratories, Inc.
Ars Nova recently re-launched BangsLabs.com for its long-standing client, Bangs Laboratories, Inc. The new site is built on Drupal, a highly versatile content management system (CMS), with custom PHP web applications providing online ordering and various other functions.
Often, when a business makes the decision to use a CMS in the hopes of decreasing their maintenance costs, they forfeit flexibility. Despite how powerful CMSs are, extending them beyond the basic publishing functions can sometimes prove limiting and time-consuming. Many businesses already maintain their own products database and have their own way of presenting those products; fitting those data and presentation models into a pre-built product/ordering module is nearly impossible. The result is a generic, clumsy products section that necessitates maintaining two identical databases.
Bangs required a site that reflects their unique and offbeat personality — a site they can edit themselves and yet doesn't look like a template. They also needed secure online ordering, driven by their legacy database.
Ars Nova's solution was to develop the site itself in Drupal, and to create mini web applications that run alongside the CMS.
The results of this approach are:
- a site that allows the client to edit 95% of the content,
- a product database synchronized to Bangs' existing database,
- product search/display functions built exactly to the client's specifications,
- secure online ordering, without having to conform to existing CMS modules, and
- the potential for future expansion.
"Instead of having to recreate our information to fit a standard template, Ars Nova worked with us to incorporate our existing database structure into a user-friendly customized ordering cart. Maintaining and updating the new website is an intuitive process that is very simple to complete. Most importantly, our customers are thrilled with the new look, search functionality, and ease of use. Thanks to Ars Nova for a job well done!"
— Karen Gernert, Bangs Marketing Coordinator
Assessing a project of this magnitude entails first understanding the client's goals. Realizing those goals requires the vision and experience to blend technologies seamlessly.
ClarkWestern Building Systems
ClarkWestern Building Systems, a manufacturer of steel framing and lath systems used in the construction of commercial buildings, needed a web application that their customers (primarily architects, contractors, and distributors) could use to view and select the ClarkWestern building materials to be used in a project.
We created a versatile application, SubmittalPro™, that allows customers to:
- define a project
- select parts based either on possible parameters or on known part numbers
- view individual pdf spec sheets for the parts
- add parts to their project
- generate a submittal document for the entire project
The submittal is a single pdf document that contains the general project information, a master parts list, and spec sheets for each of the parts. It can be viewed in your browser, downloaded to your computer, or emailed directly from the web site.
Because ClarkWestern offers thousands of parts options, manually creating, storing, and maintaining individual spec sheets for each of those parts would have be very labor intensive for the company; we were able to greatly reduce that labor by creating most of the pdf spec sheets on-the-fly, using parameters stored in an easily-maintained database.
"I went through the site. That is OUTSTANDING. I encourage everyone in IT to check it out. Nice Job for everyone involved."
— Dave Stolz, ClarkWestern IT Manager
Who said IT managers are hard to please?
"I just wanted to let you know that you are a lifesaver!! The past few days I have been playing around with the new submittal pro and you have done a great thing with it. It is (10) times better than it was before!! It has made our lives so much easier on this end with the tech calls. I really appreciate the changes you've made to it and the hard work you've put into it, and I just wanted to personally let you know. Thank you so much!!!!"
— ClarkWestern Customer
No, we didn't add the exclamation points ourselves. As you can see from their customers' comments, this web appliction is helping ClarkWestern:
- move their business processes online
- reduce technical support time
- increase market visibility and credibility
- streamline the sales process
- facilitate communication between CW and its customers, as well as between contractors, architects, and distributors
"This submittal process is wonderful. I have been working in this business for 16 years, and this made my submittal process today a breeze. This is just one more thing to add to my list that sets Clark above the competition."
"Awesome! This will save us precious time while making our submittals more professional. Thank You!"
"CW ROCKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
— ClarkWestern Customers
So often, in an attempt to improve efficiency, businesses fall into the trap of considering only their own resources. But the time your customers spend on their end is just as valuable. (It just happens to show up on the other side of your P&L.)
Future plans for the submittal generator include linking it to ClarkWestern's existing ordering system.
<< Visit SubmittalPro™ >>
Girl Scouts of Greater Chicago and Northwest Indiana
This Girl Scout council, serving more than 20,000 girls, has been a client for 10 years. In 2005, the council decided to re-tool the site because they found that their audience was increasingly volunteers, not the girls in the council.
The newly-designed site features online product ordering, allowing troop leaders to log in and place their girls' cookie orders (totalling ~$3M each year). Also, with the addition of a password-protected portal called V-Net (Volunteer Network), volunteers, delegates, board members, and alumnae may register to receive targeted communications and to download relevant forms.
"I always look forward to the Ars Nova part of my day."
— Janet Miller, Director of Brand Management & Communication
Honestly, how many vendors can you say that about?
<< Visit GirlScoutsPW.org >>
Indiana Health Information Exchange, Inc.
IHIE is a non-profit venture backed by a unique collaboration of Indiana health care institutions. One of its chief aims is to provide Indiana physicians with a single electronic source for clinical results including laboratory/pathology, radiology and electrocardiogram reports, and transcriptions, from all participating central Indiana hospitals as well as other laboratories and out patient facilities.
IHIE contacted Ars Nova when they needed to create a secure portal for physicians to access the existing DOCS4DOCS® clinical messaging application. Rather than trying to work within the limits of packaged software, Ars Nova provided a custom portal. The portal includes user registration, encrypted authentication to DOCS4DOCS, and complete administrative functions.
"I had been hoping for an opportunity to work together again. You have always been such a valuable vendor."
— Tom Penno, COO
Other sites
Cartilage Restoration Center of Indiana
Neltner Healthcare Advocacy Alliance
