Site Redesign / Development of New Consumer Offering
- This RFP had a pre-bid event.
- This RFP was uploaded by the owner.
Scope of Work:
Re-Design/Program http://Obit-Mag.com homepage layout to include:
Addition of a daily blog/Intel Column to left rail
Replace navigation elements and subsequent content management system functionality
Use best practices to encourage interaction/sharing/recommendation for home page and all interior pages.
Create American Lives Archive landing page and presence on homepage, interior pages and subsequent content management system functionality
Create Strategic ad scheme on front and interior pages to drive visitors to The American Lives Archive.
To be determined by vendor: Wireframes, userflowcharts and coding
To be provided by obit-mag.com: graphic design elements.
Program Goals:
American Lives Archives: Write and publish an obit at Obit-Mag.com
Our research has determined that placing an obit in the newspaper is expensive and restrictive. In many metropolitan areas you can easily spend upwards of $500 for two inches of text.
Life stories are important, and they deserve more room than a typical newspaper or website can provide. That's why Obit-Mag.com, an established, award-winning web site about Life, Death and Transitions, has created and trademarked The American Lives Archive, where the user can publish a permanent online obituary of unlimited length, with photo(s) for a one-time submission fee.
Why is Obit-Mag.com positioned to make this offer? Because, the user-submitted obituary of a loved one will appear alongside stories by some of the nation's most respected journalists, on a website dedicated to telling the stories of intriguing lives.
To that end, we have partnered with the Library of Congress. Every obituary in the American Lives Archive will be housed in the Local History and Genealogy Reading Room in Washington, D.C. and will be accessible to future generations and part of our nation's history.
Obits submitted that are of particular note, quality or interest will be highlighted as feature stories on Obit-Mag.com. The people who submit these stories will be awarded a $100.00 prize and see their story featured on the Obit-Mag.com homepage.
User Interface/Experience:
Obit-Mag.com has always presented an environment where visitors can READ... Like most online/print magazines, this is a very passive experience on the part of the user.
We need to make Obit-Mag.com an environment that entices the visitor to:
WRITE, SHARE, and RECOMMEND the experience through Social Media.
The interface should spark the user to "create something that will last forever" through publication on Obit-Mag.com and the archive at the Library of Congress.
The experience should be seamless and logical/organic:
WRITE your experience,
SAVE/REVISIT/EDIT if you need to.
PAY the submission fee
SHARE the story you submitted
FEEL like you are part of something larger and of value.
The placement of the Pay Wall in this process is crucial. If it is presented too soon, the user would immediately opt out. They must have something invested before they are asked to make payment.
Best practices and knowledge of user behavior is imperative. The user flow of the interface should pull the largest possible percentage of visitors who start the process through to make a purchase.
Phase 1: "The Bucket"
Build an intuitive easy to use customer interface for visitors to submit obituaries.
Build and determine through use of best practices the strategic placement of pay wall and user flow.
To be determined by vendor: wireframes, user flowcharts and coding
To be provided by Obit-Mag.com: Benefits of program, user motivation, analysis of competition and consumer leads, graphic design elements
Build the "Obit writes obit for you" questionnaire and paywall placement.
To be determined by vendor: wireframes, user flowcharts and coding
To be provided by obit-mag.com: content of questionnaire
Phase 2: "The Workbook"
Interactive user interface that guides a visitor through the process of writing an obituary for someone they loved by prompting user with questions, models of narrative and ability to save work. End product is an obituary that is published at obit-mag.com
To be determined by vendor: Content arrangement, wireframes, user flowcharts and coding
To be provided by Obit-Mag.com: content of workbook, benefits of program, strategic parterships and graphic design.
For all phases:
Built-in social networking functionality (i.e. facebook commenting app and twitter, crawl address books and email link, tell a friend etc)
build off/improve Obit-mag.com's current user registration system,
email newsletter to new users, ability to email new users with future offers.
Automated Internal notification of submissions and purchases.
e-commerce application (either 3rd Party or Vendor Recommended)
Contact: [email protected]
