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client success stories
How atomic design and an adaptable and flexible content management system created the foundation for a more advanced, demand-generation platform
3 min read
High Tech
End-to-end CMS website solution strategy and design
Qumulo, the leader in universal-scale file storage, was advancing their positioning from one that was associated with an appliance-based offering to a brand centered on a software fabric that spanned across the on-premises data center and the public cloud. Thus, they needed a site that was robust enough to support the complexity of guiding users through a friction-free, learn-and-try buying journey of a software-centric offering. What they needed was a custom content management system (CMS) that fit their specific needs.
It was important to have a website that showcased their market differentiation and increased lead generation for their sales team. Additionally, Qumulo also needed a web platform that was extensible enough to evolve with their business growth and was accessible enough for their broader team to easily design and deploy content on an ongoing basis.
As speed-to-market was key, Smashing took an atomic design approach to CMS implementation planning and development. This methodology uses abstract representations of atoms, molecules and organisms to craft design systems. Using atomic design provided the appropriate level of abstraction needed to enable conversations about design intent, without the need to make immediate decisions about design or development implementation. Rather than creating a collection of web pages, the team designed a system composed of components. Once the components were created, they could be arranged in any number of ways with drastically different outcomes. This began with the creation of atoms, the smallest elements, i.e. a button. From there, Smashing assembled the atoms into molecules, such as a search field or search button. Then, the molecules are combined together to form large organisms, such as a navigation bar. This was the basis of the CMS development.
Smashing established a rules-based design language system that became the building blocks for the developers to build the custom content management system. The rules and design guidelines included: colors, typography, spacing, image treatments, illustration styles, icon styles, buttons, page components, page controls, page layouts, etc. This CMS website solution culminated in a design system and accompanying pattern library, which not only included the rules and examples stated above, but was the main repository of the component code. This led to the ability to have a change in the design system be immediately reflected on the website, as the comprehensive CMS solution pulls directly from the style guide.
Scaling is automated and assets are served via a content delivery network to minimize hosting costs, without reducing performance. The workflow allows for continuous integration of new code and transparent replication across environments.
The CMS solution helps with the following:
