Six months after Landmark's Web Team launched the new Home Centre website, I'm pleased to announce the launch of the latest two sites that we've been working on: the Splash and Shoe Mart websites.

Splash and Shoe Mart customers represent a completely different prospect to the Home Centre audience, they're more style-conscious and fashion savvy. We've tailored both sites to suit these customers, but instead of focusing on promoting products, we've tried to inspire them instead.

For Splash we've created an innovative "look-book" to showcase the latest fashion trends; for Shoe Mart we've designed a simple interface so customers can easily browse through this season's key styles. Both features help fashion-conscious shoppers find something unique, visualise their look, and imagine themselves wearing the clothes and shoes prior to visiting our stores.

    

With another two websites under our belt we're looking firmly towards the future. Building a web presence is just the beginning, now comes the hard work of keeping the content fresh and continuing to improve the website experience for visitors.

Bringing new websites to life is no easy business and we faced multiple challenges along the way. If you've been involved in launching a website from start to launch, it would be great to compare stories and see if the same issues came up, why not share your experiences with us here.

I met Savitar Jagtiani, the man leading The Web Team at Landmark Group, back in January 2011. He introduced me to the company, their presence in the Middle East and how they were planning to tackle digital. The strategy was incredible and it was apparent that it was taking shape very quickly. Six months later, we launched the new Home Centre website.

Honestly speaking, not everyone may appreciate where Landmark Group is heading, as most companies in the Middle East don't really understand digital very well. I personally have lived and breathed digital projects for over eleven years now, starting my career as a Designer, Front-End Engineer, Producer, Project Manager and now Senior Project Manager.

I know a thing or two about digital, and have met a lot of people who like to throw their opinions around, guessing in which direction it's headed and what methodologies and tools should be used. For me, "digital" has become a buzzword for people who haven't been in the industry long enough. What most people don't realize is that digital is another cog to a much larger wheel. Just as how distribution, human resources and customer service have a role to play, so does digital. Not taking this into consideration in any project will ultimately lead you down a strategy which just doesn't support the growth of any business.

When I work on a digital project I always focus on two areas: direction and execution. Direction for me is about stepping back and understanding where the business has come from, what it is doing right now and where it intends to move forward. Execution concerns how you go about it, by focussing on communication, the calibre of your team and being incredibly sensitive towards user experience and design. This will lead you down a path aligned with where the company needs to go.

With Home Centre we did exactly that. We deeply understood what journey the company had been on, what it was doing right now and where it was planning to go, and created a strategy that was unique to them. The real success was in how we executed the project. We handed all communications via 37 Signal's Basecamp, kept an incredibly close eye on the user experience and design, and - most importantly - the real magic came from the team. Home Centre supported us completely and with an amazingly passionate design, copy and technical team we were able to transform the strategy into something really stunning.

It is the start of a new journey for Home Centre digitally, and, moving forward, we'll be listening, strategising and supporting Home Centre to help that wheel run just a little bit better.

I've never written a tribute before, mainly because I've never felt the need to. But after yesterday's dent in the universe, the void that remains is so large, so global and ironically so personal that it calls for a little reflection. 

It's the day after and I'm still devastated. I'm still trying to wrap my head around the fact that we just lost the most brilliant, creative, passionate leader, visionary, technologist and entrepreneur of our generation and a guiding star for tech and web geeks like me. 

I'm never going to forget yesterday when I woke up in the morning at around 7:30am, grabbed my iPhone 4 to check the latest on tech in Twitter and saw a combination of texts and messages from friends confirming the news and sending condolences. I knew what happened but it hadn't properly registered as yet. I woke, went to the living room, sat on my sofa and started flipping through the bevy of news apps and tech blogs on my phone. The coverage was breaking news everywhere. I then watched the embedded video footage from the BBC app and that was it. The sucker punch was delivered and it knocked the wind out of me. 

I broke down.

I knew this was inevitable, but I couldn't believe he was gone. I switched on the TV and watched CNN's bits on Steve's legacy. I went to work after that but felt lower than a worm's bellybutton for the rest of the day. 

The world losing Steve is like Potter fans losing Dumbledore - The apex wizard with magic so powerful you didn't even know that stuff was possible, the guy who's always ten steps ahead of the game and who you could rely on to save the day. 

No more. 

I wouldn't have a career if it wasn't for Steve and Apple. I wouldn't care about the user experience, usability, user-interface design and building better web products as much if I hadn't been blown away by the quality of their hardware and software that they've been churning out consistently for over a decade. My previous employer Cleartrip, where I spent close to 3 fantastic years before joining Landmark in 2009, wouldn't have existed if it wasn't for Steve and Apple and they said so themselves on their blog and Twitter accounts. 

So Steve, like I said in my Facebook and Twitter statuses yesterday, thank you for everything - the inspiration, the career, the products, the quality, the experience, the bragging rights, the fun...everything. If I can achieve a fraction of what you have in my lifetime, I would have justified my time on this rock. 

It's been a privilege to live in your world.

Savitar

Sent from my iPad