Project speedboat

While we were working on the piloted program with the first business unit, additional workstreams were beginning for NCR’s other business units in parallel as we moved into the second phase of the project. We repeated the brand to UX process, and started to see some different, nuanced content needs for those other units. From those learnings we iterated on how to readdress the initial core components created in phase one in a way that would meet the specific needs of each business unit, while maintaining a global system. This meant making optimizations to balance the flexibility and the rigidity of the system by deconstructing the components into subcomponents that make up a content block. We could still safeguard the code, and the system ultimately gave NCR the most potential for customization with the least amount of complexity.

For that first phase, we went from the initialization of the project to live in market within only five weeks. Another five weeks later we had 40 pages and a full toolkit of components complete. Phase three was about creating a multi-instance version of the Webflow build so that NCR could begin to scale the system for not just one or two authors and 40 pages, but for 20 or more authors and thousands of potential pages. The multi-instance approach gave each business unit autonomy within their own project; it’s a solution that allows individual teams to have their own instance of Webflow for authoring, while still sharing the same classes and maintaining one global style sheet for a consistent design. This allowed for content authors to go in and really impact html and components, but not have to worry about impacting any global elements that appear on pages across units, or even have to schedule amongst the different units to coordinate when they spend time in the build.

When it comes time to hand over a site to the client, we always provide a series of resources and learning sessions so they can see how we are building, get guidance on best practices and ask any questions that come up. But for large enterprises building at scale, there are additional considerations when it comes to structuring roles and responsibilities internally within a team in order to support Webflow and get the most out of the platform. To help NCR approach that organizational change, we identified five roles — from editor through marketing technologist — and outlined their functions as it related to authoring content, as well as how NCR should look at hiring and staffing for those positions moving forward.