The problem - inflexibility, slow time to market and costly

Our previous website was outdated and managed by an agency, which made updates both difficult and expensive. As a result, our time to market was hindered. To address this issue, we made the decision to take matters into our own hands and create a new website. In the meantime, we took the opportunity to familiarize ourselves with the latest low-code platforms* and open source tools.

*Gartner predicts that by 2026, developers outside formal IT departments will account for at least 80% of the user base for low-code development tools, up from 60% in 2021.

Here's how we did it

Defining the purpose

To start with, we defined the purpose of our website - to serve as a platform to showcase our work, communicate our values, and attract potential partners and clients. Additionally, we desired a built-in content management system (CMS), a low-code platform, and the ability to quickly push updates.

To ensure that we were on the right track, we involved the entire team in the process of gathering ideas and requirements. This allowed us to get a comprehensive understanding of what we needed to include in the website, and how we could best present our work and values to our audience.

Finding the right tool

When it came to selecting the right website-building tool, we knew we needed certain features to make our vision a reality. We wanted a platform that had a reliable content management system (CMS), was low-code, as well as responsive and user-friendly templates. Additionally, we needed a tool that would allow for custom code to be integrated seamlessly.

After extensive research and testing, we discovered Framer, a powerful and versatile web design tool that met all our requirements. Not only does Framer have an easy-to-use CMS, but it also offers interactive templates that are responsive to all devices.

Creating the structure

Once we had selected the right website-building tool, we began building the structure of our site. Throughout the development process, we regularly sought feedback from our team members as well as outsiders. We wanted to ensure that our website was user-friendly, visually appealing, and met the needs of our audience. We took all the feedback we received and used it to iterate and improve the site until we were completely satisfied with the final product. We used a Teams channel for posting mockups for the team for rapid feedback.

Image generation with AI

We used AI tools to generate over 200 unique pictures that matched our brand identity (and many not), tested them with stakeholders, and iterated until they were perfect enough. In the process we developed serious prompting skills:) Below you can see our robot mascot Robyn created in Midjourney, of course in the typical yellow color of Dyve. Below are some early prototypes, see end result under "Team".

Image retouch with free open source Adobe Photoshop alternative

There are several open source tools that can be used to retouch images. We retouched the AI pictures and profile pictures using GIMP, a free powerful tool comparable to Photoshop.

Blog posts and cases perfected with AI

To create engaging case studies for our website, we started by conducting 30-minute interviews with team members involved in each project. We used the insights gained from these interviews to create a rough draft of each case study in Word.

Next, we utilized the power of GPT to refine and enhance the initial drafts. However, the process didn't end there. The case owner was responsible for providing the last touches to the final version, ensuring that it was consistent with the original project and captured the essence of our work.

Similarly, when creating blog posts, we first wrote rough drafts in-house, which were then refined by GPT. We made sure to double-check the accuracy of the content with internal and external experts to ensure that our blog posts were informative, engaging, and accurate.

We lacked some profile pictures, so we became photographers

When we realized that some team members were missing profile pictures for our website, we didn't let that stop us. Instead, we took it upon ourselves to become photographers. We did a photoshoot using Pixel 7 and GIMP for retouch. We will however plan for a real photoshoot so if you know any good photographers, please let us know!

The outcome

It´s this site! We're thrilled with the outcome, and though it's not perfect, we can now update it in a second if necessary. We welcome your feedback! Let us know your thoughts at hello@dyve.se.