MOCAP Website Redesign: Master Project Brief

Purpose: This document is the single source of truth for the MOCAP website redesign project. It consolidates all discovery findings, stakeholder requirements, and technical context to guide UX research and design decisions.

Last Updated: December 2024

1. Project Overview

About MOCAP

MOCAP is a global manufacturing company headquartered in the United States, specialising in plastic components such as caps, plugs, and closures. The company operates four distinct brands across 12+ international markets:

Brand Portfolio:

• MOCAP (Primary brand): Protective components and masking products for manufacturing—caps, plugs, grips, high-temp masking tapes used in automotive, medical, appliance, electronics, and HVAC-R industries.
• Cleartec Packaging: Clear plastic tubes and containers for retail display, mailing, and specialty packaging—consumer-facing packaging designed for shelf presentation.
• Beckett (Division under Cleartec): Telescopic tubes, boxes, cases, and paks for industrial B2B storage, shipping, and display of tools and small parts.
• X-Treme Tape: Self-fusing silicone tape for repair, sealing, insulation, and high-temperature masking. Serves both industrial and consumer/MRO markets. Note: This is more of a product line than a separate division, and there are plans to merge the X-Treme Tape site into the main MOCAP platform.

Business Context

The current website infrastructure is over 12 years old and no longer meets modern standards for user experience, mobile responsiveness, or analytical capability. The digital properties span 33 regional storefront domains and 5 web store domains, built on a fragmented architecture of custom systems.

Key Business Metrics:

• Approximately 15 sample requests per day
• 4,000+ active customer accounts
• 70% B2B / 30% DTC split
• 80% new customers / 20% returning

2. Project Goals

Primary Objectives

Stakeholders have identified four core goals for the redesign:

1. Mobile-First Design: The current site is not mobile-friendly. A responsive, mobile-first approach is essential.
2. Improved Conversion Rates: Increase completion rates for purchases and sample requests.
3. Modern User Interface: Update the visual design to meet current UX/UI expectations and reflect the company’s professional capabilities.
4. Better User Experience: Streamline product discovery and checkout processes to reduce friction and improve customer satisfaction.

Success Criteria

The redesign must provide both an immediate step-change in customer experience and a durable foundation that prevents the need for another major overhaul in 2-3 years. Critical success factors include:

• Reliable, comprehensive analytics tracking from day one
• Seamless integration with existing ERP systems
• Preservation of sophisticated product features (size charts, configurators)
• Cross-domain tracking that enables proper marketing attribution
• Clear differentiation between internal staff usage and external customer behaviour

What Must Be Preserved

Stakeholder direction is clear: “We are not looking to get rid of anything on the site.” Key features to maintain include sophisticated size charts (180 columns across 42 column types), multi-step dependent product configurators, the Application Advisor tool, Item Customiser, catalog downloads, ISO certification displays, and all regional content management capabilities.

3. Target Audiences

Customer Profile

MOCAP’s customers span a range of industries and roles:

Key Industries: Automotive, paint/coating/finishing, medical equipment, appliances, electronics, and HVAC-R.

Typical Roles by Brand:

• MOCAP: Procurement/purchasing managers, engineers, business owners
• Cleartec: Marketing departments sourcing packaging
• Beckett: Operations and packaging teams (further validation needed with Jim Boehm)
• X-Treme Tape: Field technicians, maintenance professionals, and consumers seeking quick-fix solutions

Shared Pain Points

Despite serving different contexts, all four brands address common customer needs:

1. Protection & Reliability: Preventing damage or contamination during processing, storage, shipping, or use.
2. Right Fit / Configurability: Finding products that match precise dimensions, materials, and closure requirements.
3. Speed & Availability: In-stock inventory and fast fulfilment are critical for production lines and urgent repairs.
4. Cost & Total Value: Balancing unit price with performance characteristics and avoided downtime.

Where Needs Diverge

The brands differ in their success metrics and messaging emphasis:

• MOCAP customers prioritise process performance—temperature/chemical resistance, throughput, tolerance fit. Messaging should emphasise specs, compatibility charts, and line efficiency.
• Cleartec/Beckett customers focus on retail presentation and organisation—visual clarity, closures, print/label options. Messaging should highlight transparency, configurability, and protection during shipping/storage.
• X-Treme Tape customers need immediate, permanent-quality fixes—time-to-repair, seal integrity, field-use versatility. Messaging should emphasise self-fusing benefits and extreme condition performance.

Strategic Recommendation

Build a unified platform backbone around shared pain points (protection, fit, speed, value) while layering distinct messaging by brand context. The audiences are not “drastically different”—there is significant overlap—but each brand wins when its specific use-case context is emphasised.

4. Current Technical Architecture

Platform Overview

The current infrastructure consists of two interconnected systems:

Storefront Websites (mocap.com, mocap.it, etc.): Customer-facing marketing sites built on a custom CMS called Ajax, developed in-house. This platform manages content and product display logic, including the complex size chart generation implemented through VBScript, custom SQL stored procedures, and static configuration files.

Web Stores (store.mocap.com, store.mocap.co.uk, etc.): E-commerce functionality powered by Magento 2 Community Edition, handling cart, checkout, pricing, and fulfilment. Product data is imported from ERP systems and the Ajax CMS through custom integration scripts.

Regional Structure

Storefronts: 33 regional domains across the four brands, covering US, Canada, Mexico, UK, Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Poland, China, and Hong Kong.

Web Stores: 5 main store domains with 30 unique regional URL paths (e.g., store.mocap.com/mocap_en, store.mocap.co.uk/mocap_uk). Chinese/Hong Kong stores exist but are not currently used.

Content Overlap: Pages are 90-95% identical across regions, with variations primarily in language and occasional region-specific widgets or notifications.

ERP Integration

Three separate ERP systems require integration:

1. Sage (US/Canada/Mexico): Sage 2010, version 200 using FoxPro, 32-bit configuration, on-premises. No API capabilities—integrations must use file-based or custom methods.
2. EFACs (UK/EU): Cloud-based, single server with two organisations (UK, Poland). Uses file-based flows with XML.
3. KingDee (China): Single instance. API capabilities are unclear.

Integration Requirements: Orders (including customer data), fulfilments, inventory and inventory adjustments, products, returns and refunds (currently manual but automation is under consideration). Full financial information must be transmitted, not just SKU/quantity/price.

Note: There is a high possibility of ERP changes during the migration project, though specifics remain unclear.

Key Technical Challenges

The current system presents several significant challenges:

• No API layer or middleware for structured product data access
• Limited documentation making the system difficult to maintain or scale
• Complex product logic including 180 size chart columns, kit items with interrelated components, and products with 320+ variants
• Fragmented checkout experience between storefront and store domains
• Decimal precision requirements: MOCAP uses 4 decimal places for pricing and quantity, which has already eliminated Shopify as a platform option (Shopify typically supports only 2 decimal places)

5. Analytics Assessment

Current State: Critical Gaps

The analytics infrastructure is fundamentally broken. A comprehensive assessment reveals that approximately 20% of required metrics are easily available, 40% require significant manual work or BigQuery extraction, and 40% are simply not available with current tracking.

Major Data Quality Issues:

Cross-Domain Attribution Failure: Heavy internal referrals between territories (e.g., mocap.co.uk → mocap.co.pl) make it impossible to understand true channel performance. Marketing cannot prove campaign effectiveness or allocate budget with confidence.

Cookie Compliance Concerns: The GA4 tag appears to fire before cookie acceptance, creating GDPR compliance issues. New vs. returning user data is unreliable—described by the analytics lead as “a block of Swiss cheese.”

Missing E-commerce Tracking: No add_to_cart or add_payment_info events are implemented. Checkout URLs contain fragments (#) that render critical data unusable.

Search Tracking Non-Existent: Site search is not configured correctly in GA4. No search query tracking, no zero-result search tracking, no ability to analyse search refinement patterns. This is particularly problematic since product discovery is the most critical user journey.

Form Analytics Non-Existent: No form_start events, and URL fragments prevent page-to-page drop-off analysis. Quote requests are not tracked at all.

What Can Be Extracted (With Effort)

Through BigQuery or manual collation across multiple GA4 properties, the team can extract: traffic volumes by region, device usage by region, top entry/exit pages, session duration, engagement rate, pages per session, sample request approximations (via page view vs. event count comparison), file downloads, and conversion paths (quality unknown).

The Opportunity

The analytics lead views this redesign as an opportunity to completely rebuild analytics from the ground up. The goal is to implement a single GA4 property with regional dimensions (not multiple properties), proper cross-domain tracking from day one, enhanced e-commerce implementation, form analytics at field level, and search behaviour tracking with query parameters.

6. Marketing Requirements

Current Challenges

Attribution Problems: The team cannot confidently attribute conversions to original sources due to internal referral issues. There is no visibility into conversion quality or value, and no sales data integration back into Google Analytics or Google Ads. This limits optimisation to lead volume and CPA rather than true ROI.

Landing Page Limitations: High-level category pages perform poorly as landing destinations—relevant but not conversion-optimised. Keyword themes often don’t align with product categories, forcing homepage use as a fallback (especially for Cleartec). There is currently no ability to create campaign-specific or seasonal landing pages.

Conversion Tracking Gaps: All conversions are currently treated equally (purchases, samples, contact forms, live chat clicks). The marketing team recommends establishing a value hierarchy: Purchases and Sample Requests should be weighted higher than Contact/Live Support conversions. Additionally, internal sales team actions are mixed with customer actions, skewing analytics.

Marketing Priorities

MOCAP: Individual product pages for specific searches (via Shopping feeds) and better-optimised high-level category pages for “Plugs & Caps” (highest volume and conversions).

Cleartec: Keywords like “clear plastic tubes” and “clear packaging tubes” drive volume, but current categories don’t match keyword themes well. Flexible landing pages based on keyword themes are needed.

General Needs: Ability to create pages for industry shows with QR code support and promotional tracking to measure offline event impact.

Conversion Actions

Currently Tracked: Sample requests, purchases, contact form submissions, live support chat clicks.

Not Currently Tracked: Quote requests, product configurator completions, catalog download correlations with conversions, Application Advisor engagement outcomes.

7. Competitive Landscape

Direct Competitors

• Caplugs (identified as most direct competitor)
• Sinclair-Rush
• Poeppelmann
• Rose Plastic
• Stockcap
• Harmancorp

Other Competitors

Custom Fabricate, M-P, Backer (Poland)

Benchmarks for Large Catalog Sites

Caplugs, Fastenal, and Grainger were identified as useful benchmarks for sites with large product catalogues and multiple product variables.

Differentiation Opportunities

MOCAP’s key USPs that should be emphasised:

1. Sophisticated online buying experience through size charts and configurators that update lead times and pricing in real-time
2. Made in USA with global fulfilment (warehouses in UK, EU shipping, China) helping address tariff concerns
3. Custom and specialty capabilities for unique, almost-custom parts
4. Quick production times
5. Sustainability initiatives

8. Scope Definition

In Scope

• Complete visual redesign with mobile-first approach
• All current page types and functionality
• Size charts with all column types and sorting capabilities
• Multi-step dependent product configurators
• Regional content management and translation support
• Sample request, quote request, and purchase flows
• Application Advisor, Item Customiser, catalog downloads
• Integration with existing ERP systems (Sage, EFACs, KingDee)
• Comprehensive analytics implementation
• Cross-domain tracking between storefront and store

Out of Scope (Currently)

• Customer-specific pricing, catalogs, or product visibility
• B2B customer portal (not currently used, though future potential exists)
• Loyalty or rewards program
• Expansion of public CAD/STEP file access
• WMS, PIM, or other middleware systems beyond what’s needed for ERP integration

Requires Validation

• New content requirements (how-to videos, size calculators, compatibility guides)—stakeholder validation needed
• Industry show landing pages—specific events/dates to be confirmed
• Design system existence and assets—to be confirmed with Shane Flottmann
• BigQuery setup and export quality—to be confirmed with Ildar

9. Key Constraints

Technical Constraints

• Decimal Precision: 4 decimal places required for pricing and quantity, eliminating platforms that support only 2 decimal places
• Product Variants: Some products have 320+ variations; platform must support this scale
• ERP Limitations: Sage has no API; any integration requires file-based approaches
• Checkout URLs: Current fragment-based URLs (#) must be replaced with proper paths for analytics

Regional & Legal Constraints

• GDPR Compliance: Cookie consent implementation must be corrected to fire after acceptance
• Multi-Currency Support: Currency varies by region
• Language Requirements: EN, ES, IT, DE, FR, PL, ZH (Mandarin) must all be supported
• Content Approval: Sales directors (US/UK) create/edit; programming team pushes live

Process Constraints

• Release Cadence: Case-by-case basis; no formal freeze periods identified
• December Traffic: Historically low; summer varies by market
• Trade Shows: May create organic or direct traffic peaks (calendar to be sourced from sales team)

10. Risks & Dependencies

High-Risk Items

Analytics Foundation: Cannot measure success or optimise without reliable data. Cross-domain tracking failure prevents channel attribution. Search tracking is non-existent for the most critical user journey. This must be addressed in parallel with the redesign, not as an afterthought.

ERP Integration Uncertainty: Potential ERP changes during migration could derail timeline and scope. No middleware layer currently exists. The Sage system’s lack of API creates particular challenges.

Complex Product Logic Migration: VBScript and SQL stored procedures for size charts, kit item relationships, and configurator logic must be reimplemented in the new platform. This represents significant technical debt to unwind.

Medium-Risk Items

No URL Inventory or Redirect Plan: With 35+ domains and an unknown number of URLs, SEO is at risk without proper redirect planning. This must be addressed early.

Limited Customer Research: CRO work has not been conducted. User feedback and interviews are needed to validate assumptions about product discovery complexity.

Internal vs. External User Actions: Sales team uses the site for customer orders; this must be segregated from customer-initiated actions to avoid skewing analytics.

Key Dependencies

• Shane Flottmann for design system assets and status
• Ildar Khakimov for technical documentation, example order payloads, and BigQuery access
• Michael Wester for customer insights, USP validation, and offline tracking requirements
• Jim Boehm for Beckett audience validation
• Chris (marketing lead) for analytics implementation leadership—described as “compulsory attendance” at key meetings

11. Architecture Decisions Pending

Several strategic decisions require stakeholder input:

Brand Architecture: Single unified platform with brand theming vs. separate brand sites. Current evidence leans toward unified platform given 90-95% content similarity, planned MOCAP/X-Treme Tape merger, and operational burden of 33+ storefront domains.

Domain Strategy: Subdirectories (mocap.com/de/) vs. subdomains (de.mocap.com). Analytics lead prefers single GA4 instance with country-level reporting via dimension or hostname.

Platform Selection: Shopify has been ruled out due to decimal precision requirements. Final platform criteria and decision timeline need to be established.

ERP Roadmap: Will any ERPs be changed, upgraded, or retired during this project? This affects integration planning significantly.

12. Recommended Next Steps

Foundation Work

1. Analytics Tracking Plan: Design comprehensive tracking requirements before site build begins. Define measurement framework and establish conversion value hierarchy.

2. ERP Integration Discovery: Map current integration patterns in detail, assess API vs. file-based requirements per ERP, plan middleware layer strategy, and clarify ERP roadmap.

3. URL Inventory & SEO Preservation: Generate complete sitemap across all domains, identify high-value URLs, and plan redirect strategy early.

4. Product Data Model Documentation: Document current size chart logic, map column types and dependencies, understand kit item relationships.

User Experience Focus Areas

1. Product Discovery Optimisation: Research-backed simplification of filters and size charts, balancing sophistication with usability. Consider progressive disclosure for complex configurators and implement intelligent search with query suggestions and null result handling.

2. Conversion Funnel Streamlining: Remove non-essential form fields, eliminate checkout process fragments, provide clear progress indicators, and optimise guest checkout.

3. Mobile-First Design: Not an add-on—must be the core design principle. Touch-friendly size charts and configurators, responsive tables and data displays.

Collaboration Requirements

• Chris’s involvement in analytics decisions is described as non-negotiable
• Regular touchpoints with regional directors needed
• Sales team input required on typical customer journeys
• Customer service insights needed on pain points

13. Key Contacts

Document History

Sources Consolidated:

• Website Project Brief (MOCAP internal RFP document)
• Kick-Off Questions (Discovery Q&A with MOCAP team)
• Analytics Questions (Assessment with Forj marketing team)
• Marketing Questions (Marketing context and requirements)
• Project Brief and Context Summary (Previous synthesis document)

This document should be treated as a living reference and updated as new information emerges through stakeholder workshops, customer research, and technical discovery.