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Buyer's Guide to Web Projects

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Virpi Blom

Virpi Blom is a Web Concept & Project Expert at North Patrol. Her expertise covers web concepts, content strategies, user experience and overall planning of web projects. She consults on matters of concept design and strategic roadmaps, as well as on designing and documenting the functional requirements. Virpi has over 15 years of experience with web sites, intranets and extranets from the viewpoint of their planning, defining, design, copywriting and usability testing. She has specialized in ensuring the positive user experience, regarding both form and function.

Complete reorganization of the HSY.fi concept was worth it

20.1.2021

HSY (Helsinki Region Environmental Services) customer service was drowning in the same questions every day. The situation was especially straining, as the answers could have been found on the website. Clearly, there was a problem with findability.

The HSY.fi website technical platform needed an update, and the directive on the accessibility of the websites and mobile applications of public sector required changes in any case. HSY decided to take the customer focused approach seriously and the online service concept was completely redone. The new site presents the wanted services in an ideal way, but this change did not happen by itself. The renewal required persistent work, effort and time.

Continue reading “Complete reorganization of the HSY.fi concept was worth it” →
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CASE: Tax.fi user-friendliness fine-tuned through testing

Finnish Tax Administration vero.fi

10.10.2017

The content management system for the Finnish Tax Administration web service, Vero.fi, has been renewed. User experience, search functions, and maintainability were significantly improved in the process. Continue reading “CASE: Tax.fi user-friendliness fine-tuned through testing” →

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Good news: web sites ARE getting better

Sep 19, 2016

The last big thing in web design has been responsive (or, adaptive) design. This demand for scalable, fluid and flexible layouts has captured web designers’ attention so intensively that they no longer have a need to prove their creativity with excessive gizmos, gadgets, games and animations. This has turned into an astonishing win-win situation for customers and end users!

Of course, responsive web sites are more accessible and they offer better support for versatile end devices. But as a consequence, focus on responsive design also has side effects that have led to improvements in the overall quality of web contents, user experience and usability. Continue reading “Good news: web sites ARE getting better” →

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National flag is not a language symbol

Language selection

17.5.2016

The language menu of a web service CANNOT be represented as a row of flags. I am returning to this age-old issue because I am passionate about it. Finland is a bilingual country, and there is no way that the mother tongue of grandma Siv, born and raised in our Swedish-speaking coastal area and never planted a foot outside her homeland, should ever be represented by the flag of our neighboring monarchy, Sweden. If you cannot catch my drift, you might have an idea on how Owen from Down Under feels about the language selection “Great Britain”.

Continue reading “National flag is not a language symbol” →

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CASE: Lumo Kotinyt.fi service was tailor made

Search result

8.12.2015

When VVO corporation started to plan a unique self-service platform for renting directly privately financed apartments, it was clear from the beginning that out-of-the-box software solutions could not be used. Continue reading “CASE: Lumo Kotinyt.fi service was tailor made” →

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State of Finnish e-commerce: local, under-resourced and tech-driven

Dec 2, 2015

Amongst Finnish online shops, only one in five has planned a strategy for international markets, and less than half feel they have the resources needed for developing e-commerce in general. These are some of the discouraging results of a survey, which was conducted by North Patrol and eCommerce Finland. On the brighter side, the survey shows that it is possible to run profitable e-commerce even without significant investments. Continue reading “State of Finnish e-commerce: local, under-resourced and tech-driven” →

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Two models for buying a web project

Nov 24, 2014

What is the focus in your web (renewal) project? Are you looking for something completely different and brand new? Or are you hoping to find a stable and modern CMS on which you could build the features of your web site in a cost-efficient manner?
Continue reading “Two models for buying a web project” →

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Good questions to ask yourself when choosing a Content Management System

Jun 9, 2014

Choosing a suitable content management system for your business is not merely a decision on a technical system – it has ramifications for the website built on it, for vendor options, for the maintenance budget and for the everyday life of content managers.

When making your decision, you will run into some problematic questions. Don’t be put off. Although these questions are complex, they are not overwhelming.
Continue reading “Good questions to ask yourself when choosing a Content Management System” →

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