Orange.com: one source fits all

What do you see?

When visiting Orange.com, we had the same experience as when we saw iGoogle for the first time back in May 2007. That’s when Google launched the personalized homepage, providing users with the option of adding all sorts of content feeds to the Google page with the famous search box. Content feeds being, for example, the latest headlines from a newswire, any website offering RSS feeds or a widget. A widget being, for example, the YouTube application that enables users to search and view YouTube videos on the iGoogle page itself.

Back to Orange. The French telecommunications company allows users to create a personal homepage. The homepage shows draggable content blocks, just like iGoogle. Content block being, for example, a calendar, stock information or press releases. All of which are very relevant to journalists, who tend to visit a corporate website regularly. Orange also offers journalists a wide variety of RSS feeds and a desktop widget, which shows press release content without having to visit the Orange website.

Why is it effective?

Information needs and frequency of visiting differ among stakeholders. A journalist might visit a corporate website more frequently than a client or a job-seeker. The possibility of setting up a personal homepage, subscribing to RSS feeds or even downloading a desktop widget enables the journalist to be connected to Orange at any time and from any location.

What’s next?

The change from static (HTML) to dynamic (XML) information enables companies to easily distribute content, irrespective of layout or device. It allows users to use the content in the way they want to. A one-source-fits-all approach.

This actually implies a major shift towards user-oriented communication and data portability. It is the user who determines what is seen and where to consume the information.

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