Over 80% of all software development projects fail. They go over-budget, past deadline, under-deliver, or just plain get it wrong. We abide to a strict development cycle that keeps our developers, designers, clients and management in the loop throughout the process. This allows us to give accurate quotes, maintain schedule and deliver what the client wants. Take a minute to step through our development cycle.
Initial Consultation
We love meeting new people and pride ourselves on delivering cost-effective online business solutions. Not everyone needs a high-powered, database driven e-commerce site with member forums and secure shopping carts with integrated point-of-sale management. But having a development team with all that firepower, sure can’t hurt. During the initial consultation, we get a feel for what your needs are and what you want your site to accomplish. Take a look through our design and database galleries, you’ll see we power everything from national corporations to local mom’n pop shops.
Getting Started
The process begins with defining exactly who is going to use your site. We define these personas, and what their goals are. This is called Goal Oriented Design. From now on, every function and aspect of the site will have to fit into the goals of our personas. What group of people is your site catering to? Why are they going to use your site? What do you want them to see or do on your site? We have an in-depth, multiple-choice, questionnaire we use to zero in on the general and specific goals you want to achieve through your website. Our first step is simply setting well-defined goals.
Preparation
Now, we start preparing content. If you are a business, this means gathering everything you want the public to know about you. This may include your company’s logo, a brief history, or biography of the founder in addition to your product information or merchandise. We will use these resources to create an online presence to reflect your company’s character. The first impression an existing customer gets should reinforce their impression of your “real-world” assets, and the first impression on a new visitor will create confidence.
Wireframing
Now that we have established the site’s structure and functions we begin fleshing out the framework. We take all the information gathered up to this point and create a wireframe. These are just pages with the functions written out in plain text. Wireframing allows you to see what functions will be on each page and the logical progression. This step is especially helpful on bigger projects to be able to visualize a process and to streamline workflow. Wireframing also makes it easier to see how different components work together.
Prototyping
At this stage the site has the all the necessary functionality displayed. The next step is a clickable site with surface-level functionality. It fleshes out the details of any data entry, order-processing, and document-handling needed. We format everything into a general outline and lay out the navigation. At this point it will look and feel like a "real" site, without any of the behind-the-scenes mechanisms. This portion is the most labor intensive and typically accounts for up to 70% of the development schedule.
Programming
This would normally be the hardest part, but with well defined goals, and clear functional requirements, it's simply a matter of matching up the required back-end pieces to the front-end, creating the database (if necessary) and testing. This is where the final design is applied; our designers touch up display elements, optimize graphics and validate all the display code for maximum browser compatibility. Read more about our design principles.
Going Live!
This is the least dramatic step of the process. There are no surprises or slip-ups, just smooth sailing. In an instant your site is rolled out from the development garage onto the internet with a gleaming coat of wax, a finely tuned engine and a head-turning design – ready for business.
When you're ready to make the internet work for you, let us know.