Listen & Educate Consultation
When it comes to Website & Web Applications we are what you call experts. As consultants our job is first to listen and second to educate. Once everybody is on the same page then it’s time make some decisions.
A typical consultation meeting would start off with a quick review of your business & business goals. Once we know who you are, we can walk you through a discovery process. Every project will be different and have different needs. One size does not fit all.
For example, a typical discovery process for a Content-Focused website may go like this:
- Discuss the purpose of the site.
- Determine who is the target audience.
- Discuss the message that should be delivered through the content.
- Review existing content.
- Discuss some options for implementation.
Clean & Refreshing Design
Design is not just about making things pretty; the most important part of any web-based project is the design of the interface. As designers it’s our job to wade through all of the content and requirements in order to produce an interface that is clean and refreshing.
For Content-Focused Websites this means designing the way content will be presented and how it will actively engage visitors, drawing them further into the site. For Web Applications this means designing a simple and clean interface for your users to interact with.
After the interface has been created it’s time to make it look good. We will create a mockup of what we have envisioned for the final product. Along with the mockup we will present you with a handful of options to help make the design your own. Once we are all in agreement on the interface’s design we can move on to creating the final product.
Interface into Reality Development
This is where we really shine. As developers it’s our job to turn the interface into reality. Our number one priority is making the final product as easy to navigate as possible. Second to that is to create clean and valid markup; it’s actually a bit of an obsession.
Once we have the interface built our work is far from done. Next we test the code in all major browsers to make sure the interface is consistent for all users. After that we optimize the code for browsing speed and the various search engines.
For Web Applications we typically break down the project into smaller pieces. Each piece goes through a cycle of development, testing and then review before we move onto the next piece. If possible we try to build the application so that even after the first cycle you have something that you can start using.
Final Polish Deploy
Whether or not you decide to host your Website or Application with us we are here to help you through the home stretch. Before a Website goes live for the world to see, we need to first populate it with content. Our design process should have nailed down the content for the home page, but the rest of the site’s content will need to be integrated.
If it’s appropriate you may request to have your site hosted in a CMS. A CMS is a dynamically driven site that allows you to edit the content in plain english. No coding required! Using a CMS will make it easier to maintain a Content-Focused Website.
Hosting Web Applications can seem a little bit more complicated. Our hosting platform of choice is Amazon Web Services and they help make it a breeze. We have been working with Amazon’s EC2 service since it came out and we can help get your new application up and running in no time at all.
