“Since the application became available in January, approximately 70 percent of our K-8 yearbook customers have opted to use the Y Online Web application versus the desktop version, and Herff Jones’ overall business has increased by roughly 15 percent.”
Vicky Wolfe
Director of Marketing, Yearbook Division
Herff Jones
Herff Jones’ Y Online simplifies the complex process of creating professional-quality yearbooks
News Facts
SAN FRANCISCO, May 4, 2010 – Through its expertise in creating great user experiences, EffectiveUI has helped Herff Jones take the complexity out of creating a professionally published yearbook for the K-8 market. Created for an audience of busy moms and PTA members who require an intuitive, simple process, Y Online helps these users create and publish school yearbooks easily and quickly.
EffectiveUI will showcase the application in its booth (#520) at Web 2.0 Expo, May 4-5 in San Francisco. The conference highlights the latest Web 2.0 business models, development paradigms and design strategies for the builders of the next-generation Web.
The Y Online application was designed and developed by EffectiveUI to be approachable and friendly, with a soft look and feel and streamlined features that make the otherwise complex process of creating and editing a yearbook very straightforward. Y Online lets users unfamiliar with publishing practices create compelling yearbooks. The application shields users from the complex, powerful tools used to create it, instead presenting them with instructional content and controls that are easy to understand and design elements aimed at the K-8 audience.
“We wanted to create an application that would bring all of the powerful tools of our eDesign high school yearbook application to a new user who may not have the time or desire to learn a lot about publishing,” said Vicky Wolfe, director of marketing, yearbook division of Herff Jones. “Since the application became available in January, approximately 70 percent of our K-8 yearbook customers have opted to use the Y Online Web application versus the desktop version, and Herff Jones’ overall business has increased by roughly 15 percent.”
“The Y Online application is a great example of our ability to really tailor an application and build an engaging experience that is 100 percent focused on the end-user,” said Rebecca Flavin, CEO of EffectiveUI. “We never lost focus of the requirements of a busy parent or teacher — their perspective was at the forefront of every function, every button and every design element of this application.”
Web-to-Print Expertise
The successful Y Online application validates EffectiveUI’s strength in creating intuitive user interfaces for complex Web-to-print applications. The company also recently re-created the user experience for American Greetings’ PhotoWorks Studio Books (Beta) photo book application builder. After PhotoWorks was acquired by American Greetings, the company looked to EffectiveUI to make the existing interface more engaging and appealing.
The application allows users to upload photos to a stored library and create a custom photo book, page-by-page, with text, images and other design elements. Because the user interface is intuitive and uncomplicated, American Greetings is making it possible for a non-technical audience to build beautiful, richly designed photo books.
Founded in 2005, EffectiveUI is an award-winning, user experience agency that specializes in the creation and implementation of custom Web, mobile and desktop applications. EffectiveUI merges innovative technologies with expertise in user experience strategy, design and development to help today’s most respected brands deepen customer engagement through more exceptional software experiences. The company’s applications deliver competitive advantages, increase customer satisfaction and loyalty and produce measurable results. EffectiveUI has developed groundbreaking applications for organizations such as National Geographic, Discovery Channel, eBay, GE Health, Qwest Communications and American Greetings. It has earned an Adobe Gold Partner distinction and membership in Microsoft’s Global 20 Agency Partners. In September 2009, Inc. magazine ranked EffectiveUI No. 55 on its 28th annual list of America’s fastest growing private companies — the Inc. 500.
Herff Jones, Inc., an Indianapolis, Ind., corporation in its 88th year, is a leading manufacturer and publisher of educational products, recognition awards and graduation-related items for the school market in North America. Herff Jones product lines include yearbooks, class rings, medals and awards, diplomas, graduation announcements, caps and gowns, school photography and institutional materials.
Approximately 4,000 employees manufacture its products in 22 U.S. plants. Those products are sold through a network of more than 800 sales representatives. Herff Jones is one of the nation’s largest 100 percent employee-owned corporations.
For More Information:
EffectiveUI — www.effectiveui.com
Herff Jones — www.herffjones.com
American Greetings — http://corporate.americangreetings.com
Media Contacts:
Jill Petersen
Director of Public Relations, EffectiveUI
206.683.5225
Email Jill
Aaron Wessels
Point-Bl_nk Communications for EffectiveUI
415.378.8090
Email Aaron