How a Major International Airport Improved User Engagement & Experience
Overview
A major international airport, operated by one of the world’s largest airport operators and owned by a local council, sought to enhance its digital presence by transitioning to a headless CMS. The primary objective was to improve user experience, increase operational efficiency, and ensure that the website aligns with the airport’s brand values while meeting WCAG accessibility standards.
Project Objectives
Deliver an excellent user experience across all devices.
Improve real-time operational information delivery, including live flight information and surface access details.
Reflect the airport’s brand values and drive brand awareness.
Ensure the website meets WCAG accessibility standards.
Overcome challenges with the existing tightly coupled architecture, enabling easier content reuse and modern UX framework integration.
Challenges
Tight Coupling
The existing architecture made changes harder and riskier to release.
Content Reuse
Difficulty in reusing content across different channels.
UX Frameworks
Challenges in selecting and maintaining modern UX frameworks.
Scaling
Manual scaling of services, keeping them at high capacity even during non-peak times.
Data Integration
Direct integration of third-party data providers into the CMS, complicating data reuse across systems.
VE3’s Solution
Requirement Gathering
VE3 conducted an in-depth analysis to understand the airport’s specific needs, focusing on delivering real-time operational information, enhancing guest experience, and ensuring brand alignment.
CMS Evaluation
A proof-of-concept was performed to evaluate several headless CMS options that would best meet the airport's needs. The options considered included Contentstack, Contentful, and Ampliance.
Migration Strategy
VE3 developed a comprehensive migration plan that aimed to minimize downtime and risks. The strategy included a phased approach to roll out the new system, ensuring no disruption to the availability of the website and associated services during the transfer process.
Infrastructure Setup
VE3 set up new cloud infrastructure components, including Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) for managing front-end containerized applications, Azure API Management for API gateway services, and Azure Blob Storage for storing static assets. The infrastructure was designed to be scalable and secure, ensuring compliance with the airport’s requirements for data to be in the UK or EU.
Content Migration
VE3 migrated all existing content and digital assets to the new headless CMS, ensuring that the data was correctly formatted and accessible. The migration included integrating the airport’s live data feeds for flight information, surface access, and other operational details.
Front-End Development
New UI components were developed to pull data from the headless CMS through API calls, significantly improving page load times and responsiveness. The front-end was designed to be adaptable, allowing for easy updates to reflect the airport’s refreshed brand guidelines.
Quality Assurance
VE3 conducted rigorous testing to ensure data integrity, security, and functionality throughout the migration process. This included load and stress tests, as well as validation of fallback scenarios to ensure the system’s robustness.
Deployment
New UI components were developed to pull data from the headless CMS through API calls, significantly improving page load times and responsiveness. The front-end was designed to be adaptable, allowing for easy updates to reflect the airport’s refreshed brand guidelines.
Monitoring and Reporting
Post-deployment, VE3 implemented Azure Monitor and Azure Log Analytics for real-time performance monitoring. The system included tools to monitor and report on website performance, response times, and availability, with alerts sent via email and SMS when the website became unavailable or experienced severe degradation.
Ongoing Support
VE3 provided 24/7 support for P1 and P2 issues, ensuring that any critical issues could be resolved within the agreed SLAs. Additionally, VE3 offered a minimum 30-day warranty on all work, with a provision for hourly rates for any work required beyond the allocated maintenance hours.
Results
- Improved User Experience: The transition to a headless CMS significantly enhanced the user experience across all devices, making the airport’s website more responsive and accessible.
- Operational Efficiency: Real-time operational information was seamlessly integrated, enhancing the guest experience with up-to-date flight and surface access information.
- Brand Alignment: The website was updated to reflect the airport’s refreshed brand guidelines, driving brand awareness, and ensuring consistency across all digital channels.
- Accessibility Compliance: The website now meets WCAG accessibility standards, making it more inclusive for all users.
- Content Flexibility: The new architecture resolved the issues with the previous tightly coupled system, allowing for easier content reuse across different channels and quicker implementation of updates.
Track Record
Transition to Headless CMS for a Global Retailer
A global fashion retailer needed to scale its operations and enhance user experience while embracing an omnichannel approach. VE3 successfully transitioned the retailer to a headless CMS, improving content delivery speed by 35% and making it easier for marketing teams to manage content across different channels.
Transition to Headless CMS for an Advertising Technology Company
A leading advertising technology company required a flexible and performance-oriented content management solution. VE3 transitioned the company to a headless CMS, resulting in a 40% increase in site performance and enabling rapid adaptation to market demands.
Conclusion
VE3’s expertise in managing complex CMS migrations and enhancing digital capabilities was instrumental in the successful transition of the major international airport’s website to a headless CMS. The project not only improved the user experience and operational efficiency but also ensured that the website aligns with the airport’s brand values and accessibility standards. VE3 continues to support the airport with ongoing maintenance and 24/7 support, ensuring the website remains secure, efficient, and up to date.
