In August 2007 Paul Smith of Code Pro Technologies approached us to work with him on a new and interesting project – ‘Chooz-it’, a new online search and booking system primarily targeted at service / appointment based industries such as salon’s, spa’s etc.
As a J2EE developer, Paul had the database and programming end of the project well in-hand but needed a partner to help develop the corporate identity and front-end design of the site. Over the months that followed, we worked with Paul to initially develop the logo and branding for Chooz-it and then assisted in developing the templates required for the website’s various pages and functionality. With the site now live and in testing, we invited Paul to share his experience of this exciting project with us…
“The concept for chooz-it came about a little over 2 years ago but it took a while to build as I had to do it in my spare time. Also it’s a J2EE application that utilizes some of the latest technology in that space so there was a fair bit of time spent researching so that I felt confident I could put together a ‘best of breed’ application.
As a software engineer I had all the ability to build a very functional, scalable and solid application but I lacked the graphics savvy to be able to make the sight look and feel more professional. That’s where Damien and Renee came in.
Firstly we needed a brand for chooz-it. This was probably the hardest part of the exercise. We went through a number of different concepts with Renee but as soon as she showed us the initial draft of the current logo we knew straight away that was the one. From there we tried a few variations on the same theme before settling on the current one. That gave us the basis of a look and feel.
Renee then took this and made some screen mock ups which we were very impressed with. From there Damien took over and built the stylesheets and mocked up the html for me. Then I took over and applied the styles to core templates of the site which is what you see today.”
“It was a bit outside the square for Damien and Renee in that they usually build the site from the ground up, but I already had the site and needed the look and feel and they both handled this different style of project with ease and professionalism.”
“Chooz-it is in the process of being production tested with several suppliers who needed an online booking system. Meg Richards of Equilibrium Rehab is a physiotherapist who was having significant difficulties keeping her bookings up to date and in sync with her telephone answering service. When I came to see Meg and demonstrated the power of chooz-it she was impressed. Megs’ involvement has driven some valuable enhancements to the site and her current telephone answering service will be putting all bookings through chooz-it in the coming weeks. Also her patients have the facility to request a booking directly via chooz-it and to see exactly when Meg has a free slot for any of her services.
I’ve been extremely happy with Damien and Renee’s efforts during this project. They complement each other well as a design and implementation team for web based technologies.”
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