A new partnership 

The team at Hibu knew they needed an Ibexa-based development partner focused on timely support, innovative solutions, and clear documentation, particularly as they were preparing to upgrade their Ibexa instance to the latest version. The task required diligence in ensuring all of the many integrations on the site worked with each step of the upgrade, through several previous versions. Hibu was also hoping to institute new practices in documentation to ensure continuity of the website services.

“We wanted a partner who could not only help us with day-to-day development, but who was also strong in project management and communication, and who could offer new ideas as well. Not just an order taker, but someone who could help solve issues from the beginning to the end solution,” said Antoinette Ward, Vice President of Marketing at Hibu.

Mugo Web undertook the upgrade, bringing the system from Ibexa 4.1 to 4.6. The upgrade brought many improvements, most notably to the editorial process. During the upgrade, the Mugo team was able to clean up the admin interface, which led to increased efficiencies for editors.

Building a new mega menu

With the system upgraded, the new CMS provided new opportunities for optimization. The first large custom development task of the new partnership between Mugo and Hibu was designing a mega menu that would allow Hibu to feature its many services and capture more leads and interactions.

The previous menu was a standard condensed drop-down menu. Hibu was looking for something more dynamic that could display multimedia and dynamic content. The new mega menu was launched in late 2024, and the Hibu team saw immediate improvements.

“The mega menu was so well thought out,” reported Suzanne Miller, Senior Manager, Digital Design. “It was executed really well and documented in Confluence.”

Key to the implementation of the new menu was preplanning to make sure there were no broken links or disruptions to service. The Mugo team made sure that the new menu followed the same URL structure, so redirects weren’t necessary.  

While the new menu was a success, Hibu understands the need for continual evolution in its website and digital offerings. Continual AB testing is integral to their web development strategy, so a year later, even more improvements are being made to the menu.

“One of the effects of the mega menu when it was implemented was an improvement in site engagements,” Ward stated. “We wanted to take advantage of that and build on the success.”

“We learn, and Mugo helps us execute it,” Miller said about the relationship between testing and development.

Miller elaborates, “Our product offering changed, and we wanted to feature the new branding around the Hibu One platform. Some of the changes are aesthetic changes to help users find pages and to clearly communicate what we sell.”

Another improvement that came from Hibu’s AB testing was optimizations to the site’s custom forms. Testing showed that changes to the forms brought about a 12% increase in conversions. Those improvements will be rolled out site-wide.

What makes a good partnership?

Having a third-party development team is a good business decision for companies like Hibu, when the partner is focused on communication, proactive development, and innovative solutions like Mugo Web is. The relationship between the companies works so well because both partners are dedicated to the success of the site and new development. Solutions are planned diligently, with regular communication through a variety of channels. Mugo Web is dedicated to understanding what Hibu needs, and because the relationship has been established during successful incremental deployments, Mugo Web can be proactive about offering suggestions and improvements to new projects. With Hibu, Mugo has a partner that is dedicated to continual improvements and innovations, leading to more exciting developments in the near future.