Website Update (July 28, 2017)

It’s time for a biweekly update on the various Acuity Brands website projects, and we’re pleased to report that our web team is continuing to make significant improvements and accomplishments. With so many major projects under way — particularly our website migration projects — we do have a significant backlog of work, but we have taken steps to address that as well.

Accomplishments
A major achievement since our last update two weeks ago is the completion of our continuous deployment project. This critical improvement allows us to implement new code and standard updates to the website at a faster rate.

Five large business projects were completed by the content team and are in route for final approval before launching to the live site. In addition, the web team completed a total of 97 work requests, including site issues and content updates.

Another recent accomplishment is the improvement of a few product filters on acuitybrands.com. The options in the Mounting Type, Voltage Rating and Listings advanced filters now appear as single selections rather than multiple/grouped selections, making these filters more helpful and user friendly. The filtered search is accessed by clicking on a product group or a brand from the top menu bar or by clicking the magnifier in the search box on acuitybrands.com.

Backlog
While the team is working diligently and accomplishing much, the heavy workload has caused a significant increase in our backlog. We currently have a total of 169 inventory items. As a countermeasure, we have hired two contractors to help support backlog and site enhancement projects. One contractor is a user interface front-end developer, and the other is a content production editor. These additions to the team should help us make a considerable dent in that backlog.

Migration of Architectural Brands
Work continues for the website migration projects, which are in various stages of development. Much progress has been made, but a technical hurdle has caused the original launch dates to be delayed by one week for Peerless, Mark and Gotham. Here’s the current status:
• Peerless– Work is nearing completion. The launch was initially scheduled for this week but has been pushed to the week of July 31 due to the technical hurdle.
• Mark–The design is in final stages, and the site is now scheduled to launch the week of Aug. 7.
• Gotham– The design is completed, and the site is now scheduled to launch the week of Aug. 7.
• Winona– Launch is targeted for the week of Aug. 14.
• Healthcare Lighting– Launch is targeted for the week of Aug. 21.

Search Improvement Project
Improving the search and product selector functions on acuitybrands.com is another important priority for the web team. We’re already making progress with product filter improvements, as noted in the Accomplishments section above. And other, bigger improvements are in development, with full implementation planned for late August/September. Based on results of our VOC initiatives, we are working on the following improvements:
• providing a suggested-search feature
• applying a search-results order logic
• expanding the “Products” menu in the top navigation to include additional product categories — i.e., Retrofit, Troffers, Cylinders, Step Lights, etc.
• adding a Product Selector
• restructuring and/or grouping the product attribute filter values

Thank you to everyone who has provided input and feedback as we work toward improving our websites and the website experience for all users. Please continue to share your thoughts, frustrations and suggestions. Send feedback or meeting requests to daniel.englebretson@acuitybrands.com.

Thank you,
The Acuity Brands Web Team