Novomatic Spain

A rising group

As a manufacturer and supplier, the NOVOMATIC group is one of the largest gaming technology companies in the world and employs around 30,000 people worldwide.

The group, founded by Johann F. Graf in 1980, has facilities in more than 50 countries and exports innovative gaming equipment, system solutions, lottery systems and services to more than 75 countries. The Group itself operates approximately 2,100 machine rooms and electronic casinos, as well as some 270,000 gaming terminals and video lottery terminals (VLTs) through rental models.

In Spain, Novomatic has been operating since 2007 and in 2014 acquired a majority stake in GiGames, a leading national company, greatly strengthening its position in the Iberian market.

The project

Like any major company, Novomatic Spain needs its own corporate website from which to provide the necessary information to all stakeholders related to the company.

The recent acquisition of the company GiGames, and therefore its products and clients, is another reason to provide itself with its own online communication channel, different from the global corporate website and capable of responding to local needs.

Metadrop was the company in charge of taking the reins of the project already underway and turning it into a usable, solid, agile corporate site, aligned with the corporate identity but capable of defining its own objectives:

• Respect for corporate identity: Novomatic Spain's website cannot and should not stray one millimeter from the carefully crafted global corporate identity. Thanks to the meticulous work of Metadrop, the Spanish corporate website is visually indistinguishable from its global version.
   
• Clear and direct information: The user of a corporate website does not need distractions: the website must be browsable and useful. In the case of Novomatic, the user should be able to quickly find institutional information (news, history, legal information), a detailed catalogue of available products, contact info and, if you are already a customer, useful information about services such as warranty and support.
   
• Solidity and attention to detail: The corporate website says a lot of things about a company. Attention to detail (such as the introduction of an interactive map or a detailed description of available furniture) communicates accuracy and reliability. A good responsive design (adapted to mobile and tablets), the solidity of the infrastructure, the absence of errors thanks to the use of tests and the good performance of the page communicate self-demand.
   
• Usable also for publishers: It would not make any sense to make the web easy for the user if at the same time it was a nightmare for the publisher. The content that the Novomatic team creates (news, products, furniture) is easily editable and configurable. The editor can also arrange the product order via a simple interface, and Metadrop provides training and knowledge transfer when needed.

The development

Metadrop's line of action in this project can be divided into two main concepts: on the one hand we incorporated good practices and Drupal standards into a legacy project and on the other hand we extended the site with new functionalities at the request of the client.

Drupal standards and good practices

The Novomatic website has benefited from a complete refactoring of the theme. Paradoxically, this far-reaching task is virtually invisible to the user since the ultimate goal is for the site to remain the same in appearance and structure but with better code. Therefore, it is important to know the great benefits that a rewriting of the code following Drupal's good practices and standards has:

• Less code = more sustainable: The elimination of abandoned or duplicate code, as well as the adoption of strategies that require less code and eliminate repetition, are the basis for a more sustainable project in the long term. On the developer's side, the code is less confusing and more accessible, so developments are faster, result in fewer errors, and the need for maintenance is reduced. On the client's side, there is an optimization of resources that allows deriving the investments in the web towards productive developments.
   
• Extended support: We use all the tools that the HTML and CSS standards have at our disposal, but due to project requirements we must maintain backwards compatibility with older browsers such as Internet Explorer 11. To do so, we test extensively, provide alternatives (fallbacks) and use widely supported code.
   
• Aligned with the future: Using the practices and strategies recommended by Drupal has a great advantage over developing your own solutions and strategies. While both ways are totally valid, the first option ensures that the project will move in the same direction of the content management system, preventing today the incompatibilities and problems of tomorrow.

New tools

As part of the project, Metadrop also developed a number of tools to meet the demands of Novomatic:

• Exquisite compliance with GDPR: The famous General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is the force behind the famous Cookie banners. However, the GDPR includes many more aspects such as the right to consult and rectify data, the ability to choose cookies by category or the possibility of withdrawing consent at any time. In coordination with the client, Metadrop was involved in supporting and developing a thorough solution, including several modules expressly developed for this purpose.
   
• Tools for editors: The Novomatic team brought to Metadrop several needs that emerged from their experience with content editing. Metadrop incorporated new tools, such as the ability to manually re-order products, always taking care about their simplicity and transparency to the user.
   
• A powerful search engine: At Metadrop we put great emphasis on searches because we know they are important to the user. Novomatic does not require as advanced search as other projects, but still benefits from our Search API knowledge and fast, intuitive autocompletion.

The future

Today, more than ever, Novomatic Spain's corporate website is up to the challenges of the future. The site is constantly updated and communicates to the world the presence of a solid and transparent company. The basis provided by Metadrop at the theme level and the incorporation of best practices already have tangible results and leave the project ready to grow in whatever direction is necessary.