A few weeks ago, the Adobe Web Design and Technology Group launched a new integrated external website, permanently retiring Macromedia.com.

This launch, which our team called Day Next, is just the first phase of a major ongoing effort to fully integrate the Adobe.com and Macromedia.com websites. Our primary goal has been to redesign Adobe.com to provide a world-class customer experience — one that showcases Adobe technology.

As senior director of the Web Design and Technology Group, I'd like to shed some light on what we've accomplished in the past five months, as well as share a few tips. While we've come a long way since December, we still have a lot of work ahead of us.

Planning Is Everything
In integrating the two sites and designing the new Adobe.com, the user experience was and continues to be our number one priority. After conducting rigorous user studies, forming predictive models of customer behavior, and selecting best practices from both the Adobe and Macromedia sites, we moved into the planning phase of the project.

We spent nearly three months planning the website before we began production. That might seem like a long time to spend planning, but it was worth it. From our experience, we believe you have to take the time to plan carefully before you start designing those comps, building that code, and migrating the data. You have to conduct extensive testing using wireframes that are the basis for the user experience.

You also have to identify the decision makers. For example, you need to decide who has the final say in major decisions like what application platform you're going to use and what production process you'll adopt. And aside from the big decisions, you have to determine who will be the decision-makers for different areas of the site: for example, the online store, the Developer Center, the Exchange, and so on.

Built with Adobe Products
Once the overall site was fully planned and we had approval from various internal stakeholders (very key), we began production. We created comps using Adobe® Photoshop® software and built most of the site using Dreamweaver® templates with embedded Flash content. Under the hood, we are using a homegrown application platform that we call Dylan.

Comprised of Macromedia ColdFusion®, JRun™, and Flex™ software from Adobe, Dylan was originally developed for internal use at Macromedia and now serves as the framework and architecture for the new Adobe.com.

On top of Dylan, we created a production platform using Dreamweaver.

Additionally, the Adobe.com team worked closely with Adobe's Information Services (IS) organization to integrate the external website with the company's financial and marketing databases, customer support systems, as well as other important internal Adobe systems. As part of Day Next, IS also rearchitected the infrastructure for even greater flexibility.

Minding the Store
Part of launching the new integrated website was integrating Adobe's online stores. Customers in North America, the United Kingdom, Germany, and France will experience significant enhancements to the Adobe.com store.

Moreover, the new Adobe.com store is Flash technology enabled, making it possible for customers buying Adobe products to fill in critical information, such as name, address, and credit card number, without moving from page to page. Customer IDs and data from Macromedia.com and Adobe.com have, to a large degree, been integrated. If customers have two IDs, one from each of the former sites, they will be able to update their profile and select a single ID going forward.

What's Ahead?
While the first stage of the new Adobe.com brings together two very large external websites with years of legacy information, additional changes are ongoing. Much of the business- and product-related content on the former Adobe.com and Macromedia.com websites, including resources related to customer support, will be more thoroughly integrated and redesigned.

We are working to integrate the trial downloads, exchanges, knowledge base, and online forums. We will also migrate the Adobe.com store to Flex servers, making it possible to deliver an even richer and more effective user experience.

In the meantime, we hope you enjoy the new site. Our goal has been to create the best online experience possible, and we look forward to receiving your feedback. For your convenience, there are feedback widgets near the bottom of most pages on the website.

Formerly of Macromedia, Robin Ducot is senior director of the Adobe Web Design and Technology Group.