According to common textbook opinion, the basic principles of successful communication include above all the simplification of content, the reduction of complexity.
But what happens when a subject matter defies simplification? When any simplification would distort it, when details and differentiation are essential for understanding?
This was the experience of media management and design students in an interdisciplinary practical project with Global Excel.
Global Excel Management is a B2B service provider at the interface of finance, insurance and healthcare. It supports insurance companies with claims management, cost containment and medical assistance services abroad. As foreign claims are difficult to calculate, they can present insurance companies with major financial challenges. This is where Global Excel steps in. It has agreed fixed conditions and billing modalities with its global service provider network of healthcare companies such as hospitals, pharmacies and others. In the event of a claim, Global Excel handles communication and billing with the local healthcare providers and enables efficient and transparent processing for its customers.
Communication assignment: Recommendations for the online presence in the German-speaking market
The Macromedia students’ task was to develop recommendations for the Canadian company’s online presence in the German-speaking market. In order to understand the service portfolio of Global Excel Management, the communication goals of the website and the usage habits of the target group, a particularly extensive research phase was required.
At the end of the research phase, the transfer to a suitable website structure, the development of a user-friendly navigation and the further development of the corporate design into a responsive online design was a real ‘liberating blow’, as Macromedia lecturer Anke Johannssen reports: ‘This was a very challenging project for our second-semester students and at the same time a very valuable learning experience: because on the basis of the exceptionally thorough research and conception phase, the creation then succeeded almost by itself.’
Prof Dr Mohamed Badr, Project Manager and Local Head of Faculty at the Munich campus, is also satisfied with the students’ concepts. He emphasises the professional added value of the international practical project: ‘B2B communication often seems a bit brittle to students. However, it is a very important area in communications agencies as well as in corporate communications departments. Global Excel is also a highly interesting reference for our students because of its industry. The market for healthcare services is exploding worldwide and there are many exciting jobs.’