Mastering GOSS Themes: Benefits and Features

Creating a successful, user-friendly website can be a complex task, with many factors to consider as part of the website development process. A key part of many Public Sector organisations' digital transformation strategies is to provide their citizens and customers with a user-friendly and accessible website, enabling them to find the information they require within a few clicks.  One way GOSS enable this to happen is through the use of the GOSS website themes, making website creation significantly simpler and more efficient.

In this latest blog series, we sit down with Sarah Youen, the Head of Creative at GOSS, to explore the advantages of thematic website design for organisations and share best practices for mastering GOSS Themes. In this first article, Sarah delves into the benefits and features of GOSS Themes, the variety of themes available, and success stories from GOSS clients who have used them to develop their websites.

What are the key benefits of choosing a GOSS Theme for website development?

In the time I've been here at GOSS the benefits for our clients to use a GOSS Theme for website development have grown exponentially. There was a time when every client website we built was custom-made, which you can imagine took us far longer to develop, but also for the client, meant finding solutions to each of their individual site's challenges.

These days though, the websites we build for our clients use one of four 'purpose-built for public sector' website themes. This now means clients can take advantage of the following benefits:

• Proactive feature improvements and issue resolution: One of the great things about GOSS Themes is our proactive approach to maintenance. If we spot an issue in a theme update, we resolve it before it affects client websites. This way, we can keep all clients using the same themes continuously updated at once, ensuring all websites benefit without the need to individually update numerous custom websites.
• Shared feature enhancements: We also share innovations and enhancements across all our themes based on specific client requests during website development. For example, Norfolk County Council wanted the ability to reposition the carousel feature in the Dynamic Theme to sit anywhere on the page, not just at the top. As a result, we went on to incorporate this idea into the standard Dynamic Theme and deployed it to all clients using it. It's this collaborative improvement approach with the GOSS client community that ensures everyone benefits.
• Seamless theme switching: Flexibility is a big plus with GOSS Themes, we've had many clients switch what GOSS Theme their websites use with minimal disruption. Take Wiltshire Council, for example - they switched from the Command theme to the Cruise theme, and we only needed to make a few minor tweaks to the homepage, and the rest of the site switched over seamlessly. The whole process was done in just nine minutes!

Explain the key Features of each of the four GOSS Themes?

All four themes have been meticulously crafted to meet specific public sector requirements as well as broader private sector needs. The great thing about these themes is that there's at least one to suit the aims and objectives of any website our clients need to create. Looking at each theme, we have:

• Cruise Theme: Cruise is designed for visually driven websites with limited resources. It includes a 'mega menu' feature for layered navigation, making it ideal for local councils with large website structures. It's also perfect for clients who want to deliver a task-driven website and displays core customer services across a series of user-friendly tabs as demonstrated by New Forest District Council.
• Dynamic Theme: Originating from the GOSS website development, the Dynamic Theme is panel-based and highly flexible. It's recommended for councils with creative IT teams that can leverage its need for extensive imagery and content. Dynamic is also suitable for microsites, as showcased by the Gateshead Tyne Derwent Way website, offering a brochure-style site.
• Chill Theme: Primarily used for intranets,Chill offers multiple navigation options and customisable colour sections. While often chosen for intranet use, it is also suitable for external websites. Perfect example of this are the Fenland for Business website and the Wiltshire Pension Fund site.
• Command Theme: Inspired by the minimalist design of Gov.uk sites, Command is a simpler theme often used by clients who require basic functionality with minimal styling. It's usually favoured by clients who want their website to focus on forms, like Surrey and Suffolk Councils, who prioritise simplicity and efficiency.

Can you share any success stories or examples of organisations maximising the potential of GOSS Themes?

There's been so many, I think the beauty of GOSS Themes is in how fast they are to deploy to our clients' websites and how simple they are to navigate by clients' end-users. In recent times, there's three key examples I can think of that have fully maximised what the GOSS Themes have to offer.

The first would be the new Foster with North East website, the first regional hub website in the UK to provide foster carer support and advice. Using the Dynamic Theme, which aligned with Foster North East's strong visual brand, we're now utilising this site design to produce similar sites for other regional fostering hubs across the UK.

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) is another great example that comes to mind. The FSA have recently developed a subsite using the GOSS Dynamic Theme, skilfully mimicking their main website. By doing so the FSA have achieved a seamless user experience and integration with their main site despite using different content management systems.

Lastly, Swansea City Council successfully transitioned the Swansea Grand Theatre website from its previous gov.uk site. The original site was quite ordinary and needed a design overhaul to better promote the theatre's shows and events. By adopting a GOSS Theme, the site retained its unique identity and functionality while benefiting from a more engaging design. Moreover, it remains managed within Swansea City Council's GOSS Platform, alongside their main public website.

Overall, GOSS Themes offer a unique blend of flexibility, proactive support, and collaborative enhancements, making them an ideal choice for organisations aiming to create and maintain impactful websites.