perfection. vision. inspiring. thorough.

Johannes Wewalka

As co-founder and operational cornerstone of nexxar, I have been deeply involved in our projects from the outset. I can indulge my penchant for the intensive and extensive perfecting of reports while remaining true to deadlines. I am particularly inspired by BASF because their projects always feel a bit too big.

Having had our sights set on it since 2003, we were finally able to convince the biggest chemical company in the world about us in 2007. And to the full extent too, as our contact said at the time: “We’ll take everything!” – “What do you mean, everything?” – “Well, everything you have to offer. Including the perfect process, maximum security and everything you are currently developing! We want to set new standards with you.”

Landing page 2010 This amazed and concerned me all at once - not least because we had to implement a 240-page, CSR integrated report in two languages on time, and present it perfectly online. Yet this is where the impressive corporate style of BASF, which lies somewhere between the bounds of trust and control, rapidly demonstrated its effect: numerous contacts, attention paid to less obvious areas, rapid decision-making and above all an interest for and confidence in our abilities. In the very first year, this enabled us to publish a report which actually became the yardstick for online reporting.

Doing justice to the (specific) requirements of BASF continues to motivate me today. At the same time it inspires me to further sharpen the report’s profile and add new ideas. In the first two years, we had set the BASF report tanker properly in motion, but the user was regularly overrun by the rich offer of information access points, link opportunities and playful tools.

With persistence and detailed statistical evaluations, I convinced BASF to take the necessary detox course. A usability study commissioned by the customer supplied us with additional valuable input to make the report even more intuitive and to prioritise certain parts of the report in a different way. In particular, the (find-as-you-type) search was refined so that - according to the statistics - almost every second visitor currently uses our cart horse to access information.

With top positions in all the major rankings of the world, BASF and I could perhaps sit back a little now, but further tasks  have already been waiting in the wings: publication in the coming year is set to take place two weeks earlier and the topic of “mobile devices” will certainly also demand a holistic approach at BASF in order to get straight to the top.

The developments that BASF reports have already undergone are shown by the following excerpts from the past few years:

2007 – Fully laden from the harbour

Landing page 2007 As mentioned at the beginning, despite having quantitative doubts, we should simply set our complete scope of functions above that of the voluminous content. Conventional ways of accessing information (navigation, search, start page) were upgraded with access through topics and keywords. The Download Manager had just been invented and for the first time enabled the overall download of collected PDF and Excel files. Interactive key indicator comparison, related links, an online glossary and comparison with previous year data rounded off the package on offer.

Content page 2007 However, the offer was too ample, even for BASF, so shortly after publication we filmed a video on the variety of reports and placed this on the start page as a little “how to” - so much for the intuitive user experience.

2008 – The bluish-gold cut

Just as we were hoping that we had most things set up for the coming year, the next surprise came along: Landing page 2008 the rebranding of the BASF website was on the cards. Normally, deadlines in this area are seldom kept - delays extending to six months are the norm - but of course the thoroughness of the town within a town in the Rhineland-Palatinate gave no cause for doubt about the scheduled implementation.

We therefore set about the faithful pixel adjustment with new elan, strictly monitored by the representatives of personified consistency: the styleguide guardians. Yet, not least due to the strict beliefs of the auditors on the topic of content loyalty, we sometimes end up banging our head against a brick wall, despite the concentrated persuasive efforts regarding media requirements.

PDF manager 2008 Instead, we succeeded on a functional level to exchange the scarcely accepted keywords for an improved search, the introduction of the PDF Manager and a higher level of attention paid to accessibility standards. We are also quite capable of being meticulous when it comes to quality.

Continuity is not just a buzzword at BASF. So at this point, we were also immediately commissioned with the design of the interim reports.

2009 – The multimedia firework

Listen to the report 2009 New contact – new fortune. Above all “new and full of purpose” was the motto of my counterpart. It began with bringing the image concept to life, to which we responded with interactive graphics on the start page. But then came the real hurdle: the entire content in the front section of the report had to be recorded by professional readers and offered online for listening and downloading purposes. Boldness and vision are certainly characteristics of BASF, towards which service providers like us can and want to grow.

Download manager 2009 But as if that wasn’t enough, BASF and nexxar wanted to properly exploit the multimedia experience: a management board video was intended to burst through multimedia limits. And having mastered this project in the tightest of timeframes ourselves, we came up against a few internal limits. Because despite all of the fireworks, all the data also had to be carefully and promptly processed, an area where we refuse to yield an inch.

On the side, we also combined file collection and a personalised PDF function - out of courtesy, of course. Or is that perhaps why the report was a winner in a few notable rankings? It is probably down to the many lovingly developed details ...

2010 – In the eye of the beholder

Find as you type 2010 It wouldn’t have been like BASF not to broach the subject straight away after such a successful reporting year: a usability study, including eyetracking, was commissioned to better address the needs of the target groups. Together with our intensive statistical evaluation, we converted the start page, designed the Download Manager to be more intuitive and were above all able to set a milestone in the search function: the Google-style find-as-you-type function catapulted us right to the front again in terms of accessing information in the report spectrum.

CEO video landing page 2010 Being given the opportunity to design the board video for the first time this year on the portal site basf.com caused additional palpitations, especially between 2 and 5 in the morning, shortly before the go-live.

What I find especially rewarding, is that some rating agencies which assess the content of the printed and online reports, highlighted BASF and its online offering in 2011 as a worldwide example of modern communication.

Outlook

You grow with your tasks, as they say. With BASF as a customer, I’ve learned a lot about many areas. I am keen to find out which details we will be perfecting next. Things are about to get going again ...