Process
Discovery
We start by asking the right questions and planning accordingly: What are your requirements? Who is this for? What does your current content look like? What can your web site do for you? What are the possibilities? The goal is to capture the pertinent information at the outset of a project and anticipate needs you may not initially recognize. Our team of professionals has over 60 years of combined experience in web services and knows how to get to the core of the issues of virtually any project.
During the initial communication we focus the discussion with a series of these questions regarding your web project. The information gleaned from these preliminary talks will allow us to provide a written overview of the project, a schedule, and a cost estimate for your signature.
Design
Crucial to the success is the Project Plan. This document serves as a map for the lifespan of the project. Included are the project description, roles and responsibilities, key tasks and deadlines, and information required for the project.
The next step in the Design Phase is the development of the site map. Also referred to as the Information Architecture, this step serves to outline the basic structure and identify the major content areas.
Once the site architecture has been decided, we build a series of wireframes which are used to reach consensus on the elements present on a variety of page types. These wireframe are also used to describe a basic layout, such as placement of navigation and number of columns.
Approval of the wireframes is followed by the more painterly design compositions, or comps. These comps are similar to the wireframes but include a more refined look-and-feel for the site – colors, fonts, images, etc.
Develop
Partially in concert with and partially dependent on approval of crucial steps in the Design phase, objectives in the Develop phase include the research and building of custom components and functionality, installation of a content management system, construction of static and dynamic pages, and migration of the content to the site.
Development takes place in a beta, or testing, environment which is not accessible to the general public. As such, it serves as a “sandbox” to test custom functionality (if present) and for the site owner(s) to learn the particulars with regards to their site. Training for site owners is also scheduled and conducted at this phase.
Delivery
The final phase in the project lifespan, Delivery consists of final testing of the site, deploying the site to a production server and registering a hostname (URL) for the site. At this juncture the transition of related documentation will take place, as well as site management and administration. The last crucial step in this phase is the development and approval of a maintenance plan for the site – follow up schedule, level of ITS support, and project debriefing.
Future ITS support can include consultation, additional functionality and training.
