The
Process
1. Analysis:
Within the analysis phase of the development
process, the client articulates their general
vision of what the project should accomplish.
With this vision we establish the specified
objectives and overall goals entailed. As
the web site is going to be a part of a system,
it needs a complete analysis of how the web
site or the web based application is going
to be developed and how it is going to help
the business.
2. Strategy:
Once the objectives have been established,
we begin to formulate strategies to effectively
and efficiently execute these objectives.
To achieve this, we congregate the designers,
developers and testers in order to establish
a realistic plan that will be time and cost-efficient.
Once a strategy is agreed upon we can project
the amount of work at hand and provide an
estimate of project will cost. Provided that
the price is agreed on, we request that 30%
of the overall budget is submitted as a retainer
for our services.
3. Specification Building:
Preliminary specifications are drawn up by
covering up each and every element of the
requirement. For example if the product is
a website then the modules of the site including
general layout, site navigation and dynamic
parts of the site should be included in the
spec. We call this the “Information
Architecture” portion of the development
process. It is the foundation of the web site
or application in the sense that it creates
the basic structure for system and how it
operates.
4. Design and Development Process:
After building the specification, the project
can move it to the design and development
phase. You can think of this as the artistic
portion of the development process. In most
cases we analyze the general build of the
system and then apply various graphic treatments
to enhance the visual presence of the site
or application in a manner that complements
the character of the business. Usually we
like to submit two or three comps for the
client to compare and decide upon. Once a
comp is chosen, the treatment is implemented
into the system’s structure.
5. Testing and Finalization:
During this portion of the development process
we assess any errors that are present before
moving on to the final phases of the production.
You could think of it as the phase where we
tie up any loose ends that need to be addressed.
Things of this nature include scalability
testing, load testing, resolution testing
and cross-browser compatibility testing and
of course grammar checking. Both automated
testing and manual testing should be done
without fail before continuing with the rest
of the process.
6. Promotion:
This phase is applicable only for websites.
In this phase we implement certain objects
and applications that contribute to the marketing
aspects of the website. During this process
we prepare and apply the meta tags for the
site and submit the URL to the search engines
and directories. Other measures and applications
may be considered to increase the amount of
traffic the website generates. Things of this
sort include pay per click submissions, additional
content driven websites, and reciprocal link
exchange promotions. We are happy to provide
consultation regarding which online marketing
strategy might best out fit the company.
7. Maintenance and Updating:
Depending on the objectives of the website
or application, updates may be in order as
general maintenance. The amount of updates
may vary according to the specifications of
each unique project. In most cases we provide
systems that minimize the need to request
our services for every minor detail if it
should arise. We do this by providing advanced
yet easy to use online authoring tools that
will allow you to control many general aspects
of the web site or application. Updates that
exceed the abilities of the online authoring
system and require additional development
work will constitute the need for a new agreement
regarding the updates requested.
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