WestLB
Launch: February 2001
Relaunch: August 2003, January 2005
About:
WestLB is one of Germany’s biggest banks. The WestLB Global Markets Equity Derivatives sector issues and manages derivatives. Business partners and clients need to be constantly informed about the terms, rates and development of products. As the market is characterised by rapid changes, WestLB was looking for a partner who would be able to quickly implement adaptations and amendments.
Implementation:
The goal is to make as much information as possible clearly available to customers. We did this with a clearly arranged main navigation, teaser boxes with important information, and the ‘up-to-date’ section. Simple user commands allowed fast access to the site. The sparse use of colour meant that the design was focussed on the most important part of the site – the content. The use of well-known navigation templates (menu left, teaser right, title above, breadcrumb bar) made orientation simple. In order to keep the contrast strong without overloading the eyes, lettering in a grey tone was used. Headings are recognisable by their blue colour, which is also used in the navigation, to represent the chosen menu point. The teaser area includes continuative information. Pictures were avoided in favour of information as far as possible, if they did not aid orientation or support the content of the text.
The website obtains information and rate data through various interfaces, and compresses and presents them clearly. Stocks are filtered by several authorities before being published on the website. These are mapped by OpenCMS.
In the 'securities' area, rapid adaptations and completions of contents are important. The website was therefore linked in WCMS OpenCMS. The system offers powerful data management and effective maintenance.
The website obtains information and rate data through various interfaces, and compresses and presents them clearly. Many processes are fully automised, such as the creation of chart diagrams or PDF documents.
Technique / components:
PHP, MySQL, HTML, CSS, OpenCMS, JAVA, JavaScript, AJAX, graphics
automatic integration of PDF data, automatic creation of graphics through database information, time-controlled changes to pages, automatic compilation of newsletter.
