Project: Web Producer and Technical Lead
Years: 2009–2010
Sector: Design Conference, Media, Publishing
Technology: Drupal multisite D6, Ubercart marketplace, FFmpeg video pipeline, Amazon S3 CloudFront, custom theming, editorial workflows
Introduction
Design Indaba, a flagship African design conference with a beloved print magazine, sought to elevate its digital presence to match its brand ambition. Existing digital assets were fragmented across multiple sites—covering the magazine archives, conference information, exhibitor marketplace, and streaming video—that complicated user journeys and strained editorial workflows.
The goal was clear: consolidate these scattered properties into a unified, modern platform that served global audiences, supported a rising mobile user base, and streamlined content management before the conference’s next annual event.
The Challenge
- Multiple legacy sites with varying architectures and content silos.
- Large archives of legacy PDFs, images, and editorial content that required careful migration and indexing.
- Pressing deadlines dictated by an annual conference cycle.
- A shift from Flash-based video to modern, mobile-friendly streaming as broadband and devices evolved.
- Need for self-service features for exhibitors while maintaining editorial control.
- Global audience distribution requiring fast asset delivery and stable performance.
The Solution
Under my leadership as Web Producer and Technical Lead, we crafted a Drupal multisite ecosystem to unify editorial, commercial, and media channels while respecting their unique needs.
Key Components
- Drupal Multisite Architecture: Separate sites for magazine, conference, and marketplace with shared taxonomies and content to maintain coherence without sacrifice.
- Video Pipeline: Integration of FFmpeg workflows to transcode conference footage into multiple web-ready formats, enabling mobile playback and reducing legacy Flash dependency.
- Marketplace with Ubercart: Provided exhibitors a role-based, secure self-service storefront to manage their profile and sales while integrating with editorial oversight.
- Cloud Delivery (Amazon S3 + CloudFront): Offloaded media assets to scalable, global CDN infrastructure for dependable and fast content access worldwide.
- Editorial Workflows Aligned to Print: We redesigned content publishing processes to mirror magazine editorial cycles, increasing editorial velocity and ownership clarity.
The Approach
- Close collaboration with editorial teams, exhibitor relations, and a dedicated engineering/design group.
- Structured information architecture grounded in taxonomies reflecting the brand’s narrative and commercial facets.
- Agile development and ongoing stakeholder reviews ensured timely delivery before conference deadlines.
- User experience designed with both desktop and emerging mobile users in mind, anticipating continued growth in mobile audiences.
Impact
- A unified digital experience that significantly simplified user navigation across archives, video content, and commerce.
- Editorial teams reported clearer ownership and faster content publishing.
- Exhibitors gained autonomy over their marketplace presence, reducing administrative overhead.
- Offloading assets to cloud storage and CDN boosted global performance and scalability.
- The platform laid a foundation for ongoing digital growth aligned with the conference’s evolving goals.
Reflections & Lessons Learned
Design Indaba proved that unifying diverse digital properties under a coherent, flexible architecture is both possible and crucial in delivering a seamless brand experience. Embracing emerging technologies like cloud delivery and responsive video pipelines early helped future-proof the digital platform as mobile and global audiences expanded.
