Instrument and Wieden+Kennedy use Basecamp to launch new WK site

Instrument and global ad agency Wieden+Kennedy recently used Basecamp to collaborate on W+K's new site. Instrument's site summarizes the project:

The new wk.com features front-end Flash wizardry and a custom, AJAX enabled Content Management System built by Instrument in Ruby on Rails with a complete API. Now, W+K staff has access to manage hundreds of pieces of content through a simple, powerful and elegant web-enabled system.

Instrument's Vince LaVecchia wrote us to describe how Basecamp helped the cutting edge project succeed. He says, "There's no way the project communication would have begun so quickly, been managed so effectively and allowed so many people in so many places to collaborate on one big, critical, creative and technical project."

The full story from Vince:

We offered Wieden and Kennedy the use of our Basecamp software to manage two large website projects, one of which was the relaunch of their own website: wk.com. Instrument designed and built the CMS that runs the whole website in Rails and powers the Flash content. The project launched successfully and to much fanfare around the Internet about 3 weeks ago.

Marcos Weskamp (marumushi and Newsmap) worked from our office in Portland and his office in Tokyo on all of the Flash work. W+K staff worked across the river in Portland and some freelancers logged into the project as well from their home offices. I believe there were somewhere between 8-10 people in on the project from no less than 4 companies. W+K staff has offices all over the world on several timezones, some of whom had access to the project.

Marcos and Justin recently presented the project at Flash in the Can in Toronto, which went really well for everyone...

Basecamp was central for email transcripts, multi-national to-dos, long message threads with feedback on features, design and approvals. Instrument's Basecamp allowed the team to instantly and actively begin collecting, organizing and ticking off the efforts it took to build the site.

There's no way the project communication would have begun so quickly, been managed so effectively and allowed so many people in so many places to collaborate on one big, critical, creative and technical project.

Everyone had visibility of what everyone else was saying and doing. If to-dos were falling behind, the entire group had visibility. Only 3 people had access to add to-do lists for active items. In the final stages of the project, we effectively used to-dos for bug monitoring and launch items.

In the end, Basecamp allowed Flash developers in Tokyo to communicate with creative and project management leads at W+K in Portland, as well as the programming crew at Instrument also in Portland. The software was so simple to begin with, to launch the project, to manage huge amounts of data, to-dos and transcripts, it left no question as to where the direction and status of the project was going.

Basecamp quickly and easily became a hub of effective and simple project management for a website that involved overseas resources, and collaborators from vastly different backgrounds and skill levels.

More screenshots:

Clients screen at new W+K site.

Admin screen.

Visit Wieden+Kennedy and Instrument Marketing to learn more.