Trivera Project Showcase: Refreshing and Elevating an Airport’s Digital Presence

by Team Trivera on Feb 22, 2025

At Trivera, we believe the best digital solutions come from partnerships built on trust, collaboration, and expertise. Our recent Timmerman Airport website refresh is a perfect example of how we help aviation clients navigate evolving digital needs, ensuring their online presence is modern, accessible, and built to serve both passengers and airport stakeholders.

As the general aviation airport for Milwaukee, Timmerman plays a key role in the region, serving private pilots, charter flights, and flight schools. But its website, which had been built years earlier, no longer reflected the professionalism, usability, or brand alignment needed to best serve its audience.

When Mitchell International Airport, Timmerman’s parent organization, recognized the need for an upgrade, they didn’t even consider another agency. As their trusted digital partner for nearly 30 years, they knew Trivera had the aviation expertise, strategic mindset, and technical capabilities to get it right.

Decades of Aviation Digital Innovation

Trivera’s relationship with Mitchell International Airport dates back to 1996, when we first introduced them to the web. Since then, we’ve led multiple firsts in airport digital innovation:

• Developing the first U.S. airport website with real-time arrivals and departures.
• Launching the first mobile website for any airport in the country.
• Bringing Mitchell into the world of social media, helping them build an online presence that continues to engage travelers today.

With this deep history in aviation digital strategy, we approached Timmerman’s refresh with the same focus: delivering an intuitive, modern, and data-driven user experience.

A Strategic Approach to the Redesign

The initial scope of work for Timmerman’s site focused on technical updates to its CMS and backend infrastructure. However, during our evaluation, it became clear that a full redesign was necessary to enhance usability, streamline navigation, and modernize the airport’s digital presence.

Since Mitchell’s website framework had already been refined and tested, we proposed using it as the foundation for the new Timmerman site, allowing for faster development, cost efficiency, and a seamless user experience across both airports.

Harold Mester, the project lead at Mitchell, immediately recognized the value and approved the refresh without hesitation. By structuring the project around Mitchell’s budget cycles, we ensured a smooth execution from planning through launch.

User Experience & Design: Built on Data and Best Practices

Timmerman’s previous website had several critical usability issues that needed to be addressed: outdated visuals, a no longer best practice UI, and navigation that was no longer making it easy for key information to be found.

The Key Enhancements That Transformed the Site:

• Brand Alignment – The updated design strengthens Timmerman’s visual connection to Mitchell, reinforcing trust and credibility.
• Smarter Navigation – A simplified menu structure and improved content hierarchy make it easier for users to find what they need.
• Data-Driven Call-to-Actions – Heatmap and analytics data guided CTA placement, ensuring higher engagement with key pages.
• Pilot-First Features – Based on analytics, we enhanced resources for flight schools, FBO services, and airfield maps—ensuring pilots could access critical information quickly.
• New Homepage Video – A first-time visitor’s guide provides helpful orientation for incoming pilots.
• Aviation Weather Page – Heatmap data revealed that weather details were one of the most-clicked areas of the homepage, so we created a dedicated weather page to better serve users.

The result is a modernized, intuitive website that meets the needs of pilots, travelers, and airport staff alike.

Execution & Seamless Delivery

A successful project is about more than just great design—it requires clear planning, structured execution, and a seamless transition from development to launch.

Our approach was carefully phased to align with Mitchell’s Time & Materials (T&M) budget cycles, ensuring the project was completed efficiently and without disruption.

• November 2024 – Project proposal, planning, and setup.
• December 2024 – CMS & PHP upgrades, development site creation.
• January 2025 – Final design refinements, content updates, SEO enhancements.
• February 2025 – Official launch.

By structuring the project this way, we were able to work within Mitchell’s financial planning constraints while keeping everything on schedule.

The Role of Data in Our Decision-Making

Aviation websites serve a broad audience, from pilots and airline partners to general visitors. A great user experience comes from knowing exactly how those audiences interact with the site.

That’s why every major decision in the redesign was backed by analytics, heatmaps, and user behavior insights.

• Heatmaps showed that users engaged heavily with the homepage slider, but had no clear action points. We introduced stronger CTAs and a more structured content flow to guide users more effectively.
• Mobile-first improvements were made based on engagement trends, ensuring that pilots and travelers accessing the site on mobile had an optimal experience.
• Year-over-year traffic analysis shaped content prioritization, helping us refine what users saw first and where they were most likely to engage.

A Track Record of Digital Excellence in Aviation

Our work with Timmerman Airport is just one example of how Trivera helps aviation clients modernize, optimize, and future-proof their digital presence.

Other key projects include:

• FlyMKE.com – Enhancing Mitchell’s promotional efforts.
• AvoidTheChicagoOrdeal.com – A campaign driving Illinois & Wisconsin travelers to Mitchell.
• MKE Regional Business Park – Supporting aviation business growth.

With nearly 30 years of experience in aviation website development, we understand the unique challenges and opportunities that airports face when it comes to digital transformation.

Conclusion: A Seamless Blend of Strategy, Execution, and User-Focused Design

The Timmerman Airport website refresh wasn’t just about aesthetics—it was a comprehensive upgrade built on strategy, data, and collaboration.

With a history of pioneering digital solutions for the aviation industry, Trivera continues to help airports elevate their digital presence and better serve their audiences.