THERE are plenty of firms out there who specialise in advising people on how to build and design the best websites. In Bristol alone there are scores of firms of all shapes and sizes which are paid to turn out the trendiest and most modern digital designs.
But in a crowded and competitive market place there is one firm which stands out thanks to a radically different approach and results-driven philosophy.
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Tucked away in Queen Square in the centre of Bristol is Nomensa, a digital design specialist whose philosophy is based as much around psychology and human behaviour as it is around traditional business principles.
And at the heart of the business is Simon Norris, who has taken his academic background in psychology and used it to create one of the leading businesses of its kind in the UK.
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To put it as simply as possible Nomensa puts human behaviour at the centre of everything it does and the team aims to create or redesign websites so they perform the functions they were originally set up for .
It may sound like common senses but Simon, a father of two from Bristol, believes that too many firms and organisations simply ignore the fundamental principles of making the site as user friendly when they are designed. And he is a big believer in creating an experience which helps not just the customer but also the business as well.
He said: "It never ceases to amaze me how organisations forget the basic principles when they set up their websites.
"When we are called in to help someone with their site I always ask the same basic and obvious question. We ask customers what is it exactly they are trying to achieve, what they want from their website.
"Once you start to unravel that then you can start to think about how the website is set up and how it is designed, in other words, how it works and functions.
"Too often people get carried out with the look of the website and carried away with flashy design ideas."
The father of two grew up in the north Bristol area and came from a family of psychologists.
He said: "Even though I grew up in Bristol I was a bit of a country boy.
"I went to Birmingham University and it was a bit of a culture shock, but I really enjoyed my time there."
The academic has an impressive track record. He came out of the world of academia with degrees in Human Psychology and Human Biology along with a Masters in Cognitive Science.
He said: "My studies were all about understanding people and the reasons why they behave in the way that they do. It is about understanding patterns of behaviour. It is about understanding cognitive behaviour rather than the psychological behaviour of people."
He added: "To understand people and the way they behave you have to understand emotion. The fact is that emotion has a huge impact on the way people behave and also in the way they act. In the world of business and design people don't listen to emotions enough. They try to take a scientific approach and completely ignore emotional factors, which are a basic human driver."
Nomensa was set up in 2001 and is rapidly establishing itself as the leading firm in its chosen field. Around 40 people work in the firm's trendy modern head office in Queen Square.
Simon says he us a big fan of geometry and the office is designed along arithmetic principles with a circle at the centre of the office.
The success of the company has been founded upon some very unorthodox business strategies.
Simon insists it is not making money that drives him. It is about solving problems and making websites function properly for clients.
One area the company has been tackling is the issue of council websites losing out on online funds due to outdated website designs.
He said: "Word has been getting out there and we have been working with some of the biggest organisations in the country. What makes us different is that we can make a difference and improve traffic. It is not a magic formula, it is just about understanding the way people operate and what drives them."
The company analyses existing websites for clients through the use of psychology, interaction design and technology, enhancing the traffic and growth of the website, and in turn benefiting the client's business as a whole.
And you get the feeling that Simon is not the sort of person to take prisoners. If something is not working properly he will tell the client and will tell them how to fix it.
He said: "I don't believe in messing around and playing politics. I prefer to tell people the truth and is up to them whether they act on it or not."
Bracknell Forest Council's website was one of the many struggling to gain user traffic. However it has announced a 45 per cent increase in users once Nomensa got involved.
Nomensa has worked with a wide range of high profile clients across the UK to humanise technology, including National Trust, Bath Spa University, Sky Skills and Barnardos.
Simon said: "There are plenty of better paid jobs out there in the industry but people tend to come to us and stay because of the quality of the work.
"We are right out there at the cutting edge and I can honestly say we are way ahead of the opposition."
He added: "People assume you set up a business to make money and of course I have to pay the bills like everyone else.
"But the main motivation for me has always been the work.
"It is about understanding the way people work, about looking at problems and then solving them.
"We have designers and computer scientists but at the heart of everything we do is the psychology and the way people operate. What makes them do things and how they react in certain situations."