Embarking on the extensive recovery of the Hodder website, the first challenge was to work out how to retain their digital estate, followed by what steps would get them where they wanted to be.  

Getting to grips with the estate, the technical debt and unravelling the integration problems, we were able to better understand the current site infrastructure and how it had been built. Looking at their estate as it stood, we explored how it could be simplified and improved.  

After gaining an understanding of their multiple audiences, part of our initial assessment was that the site needed to cope better with the support needs of their Scottish region, also known as Hodder Gibson. As this region follows a different curriculum, a separate site was needed for the Hodder Gibson brand, mirroring the approach already taken for their Singapore region. This enabled deployment of a better-quality build and for another standalone site that also served the Scottish region, named TeeJay, to be consolidated. 

This was also created the perfect opportunity to modernise the look and feel of the Hodder Education site as taking Hodder Gibson out into its own site meant that some sections needed addressing. Working within the confines of the Hodder brand, the design was refreshed with meeting rising user needs in mind. 

By far the most extensive work we’ve done with Hodder has been on integration management across their estate, including a CRM, SAP, multiple product management systems and downstream systems. Significant efforts have focused on back-end improvements, streamlining and making efficiencies that ensure the site is more usable while enabling Hodder to get greater value from it in the here and now. 

Working closely with their many global partners and agencies involved within the multiple systems, we have made tremendous improvements which can be carried forward into their next website.