This post is written by Pat Gouhin, ISA executive director and CEO.
The International Society of Automation has been putting the finishing touches on a brand new website, the customer − and member − facing portal that showcases all of ISA’s products, services, and technical information to the world. Behind the new website is a brand new, state-of-the-art association management system, which fulfills a similar purpose to a for-profit company’s customer relationship management system. ISA’s web presence also will integrate a new learning management system to enable training and certification customers to easily register and participate in professional development activities as well as track the progress of their educational programs.
ISA’s new website will be a key hub for technical information, networking conversations, and leveraging your membership value. The new site caters to user requests for expanded site-wide search and filtering capabilities, enhanced navigation with mega-menus that allow users to browse three levels deep in the site by hovering over a navigation button, and an intuitive and streamlined checkout process.
ISA attracts more than 1.2 million unique visitors each year. Your experience on the ISA website starts at the new home page.
ISA’s new home page: A top-to-bottom preview
Top portion of new ISA home page
The top portion of ISA’s new home page design features several important areas:
- ISA’s logo and tagline, which immediately communicates the brand and its relevance to the audience.
- ISA’s social media icons, inviting visitors to connect with ISA on our social channels.
- Two bright, eye-catching opportunities to join ISA, which links to a new membership page and an enhanced checkout experience for new members.
- An easy-to-find button to access the new Members Corner – a section of the site for our members and leaders to easily access the tools needed to make the most of your ISA membership. You can edit your profile, set your communication preferences, store your favorite articles and content items, see personalized recommendations just for you, view your member savings history, and more. The Members’ Corner section will feature calendar feeds so that you can keep up with the latest happenings in your Divisions, Sections, and committees from one central location. You’ll also be able to engage in dialogue with members and colleagues via ISA’s blog. Non-members can use this section to manage their accounts and preferences, see their order history, and access their downloaded purchases.
- A search bar for visitors to immediately search the site for a keyword or resource.
- A bold new menu bar that serves two purposes: first, it enables visitors to hover and navigate three levels deep on the site to find products and technical information; and second, first-time visitors can easily see what ISA offers – membership, training and certification, standards and publications, conferences and events, news and press releases, resources for different types of professionals, information arranged by technical topic, professional development resources, and a store showcasing ISA’s product suite.
- A campaign area for ISA to call out its latest news, trending stories, and industry happenings.
- Under the campaign area, there are featured products, calling attention to key ISA resources available in the store.
- The technical topics menu, a primary feature in the middle of the home page, allows visitors to click to a technical topic of interest and see ISA articles, products, and technical papers related to that topic.
Bottom portion of new ISA home page
As we move down the home page to the next view, we see the bottom half of the home page, which features several useful content areas:
- A section called “Welcome to ISA” that gives a more in-depth introduction to the Society and its mission.
- A news “widget” that pulls in ISA news as well as articles and stories from across industry in the “global news” tab.
- An events “widget” that showcases upcoming ISA events on one tab, and upcoming Section and industry events in the “global events” tab.
- An InTech features section, providing easy access to feature stories from the most recent issue of ISA’s flagship publication, InTech magazine.
- A running list of the most recent postings available on the ISA jobs page.
- A recent video from ISA or one of our sponsoring companies, bringing a multimedia flavor to the home page layout.
The new ISA homepage has been designed with you – the ISA member, the ISA customer, and the consumer of information – in mind. We hope you find it easy to navigate, useful, and interesting.
We can’t wait to launch the site this spring and get your feedback – together, we can make the website a place you’ll visit often to find the latest and greatest information available in the world of automation.
About the Author
Pat Gouhin is Executive Director and CEO of the International Society of Automation. Before joining ISA, Pat served as chief operating officer of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, and as the first vice president of Operations and Technology Transfer for the National Institute of Aerospace at NASA's Langley Research Center in Hampton, Va. He earned a bachelor's degree in aeronautical and astronautical engineering from Ohio State University and a master's degree in engineering management from George Washington University.
A version of this article was published at the ISA website.
