All projects are a bit different, but here is a sample process outlining how most of our projects roll out:
Initial meeting
- This is our chance to get to know each other and determine if we’re a good fit.
- You can tell us about where you’re at and what goals you want to achieve.
- We’ll ask a ton of questions to get an overall feel for what you do and what you need.
- In return, you can ask whatever you’d like about how things are run on our end.
- We’ll establish a ballpark estimate just to make sure we’re compatible.
Agreement
- Once we’ve had our discussion, a more concrete estimate will be sent along for you to review.
- If everybody is in agreement and excited to move forward, we’ll send over an invoice (50% of the estimate) and a contract that goes over how payment is structured and how the timeline plays out.
- Once the initial payment is received on our end, the project officially kicks off.
Weekly Communication
- Each week you will receive a breakdown email that goes over the particulars of the project and where we’re at.
- It will summarize what’s been done, next steps, what’s on the radar, and what roadblocks (if any) need to be dealt with.
- This breakdown will be sent each week until the project concludes.
Site Map, Wireframe, and Content
- First we lay the groundwork with a sitemap – a visual breakdown of page titles that outline your site.
- This is our chance to run a content audit to see what you need and what you don’t.
- Once we’ve established a map, we can move on to the wireframe which will help us determine how many layouts you require and how we’re going to use the site to solve your unique challenges.
- While we’re doing these things, you’ll be gathering or developing your content so we can incorporate it into the next steps.
User Experience Testing
- At this point we do a quick test to make sure our direction is going to work for your staff and target audience.
- With your goals in mind, we will run sample users through a short trial to ensure the site layout is intuitive and on track to hit your goals.
Mockups
- Next comes the fun design stuff! We’ll produce a series of images so you can see what the layouts are going to look like.
- You’ll be presented with the layouts at various sizes so you can see what the layouts will look like on various devices.
Prototype Development
- It’s now time to get our blood, sweat, and (hopefully few) tears onto the internet.
- The mockup will be transitioned into a fully functional website, created in a development environment where we can be free to test and iterate before it goes live.
Prototype Testing and Round 2 of User Experience Testing
- A new meeting is scheduled once the prototype is ready for eyes.
- You and your staff (or whomever is tasked with eventually updating the site) will take a look not only at how the site looks in a web browser, but also how the site is updated.
- We’ll run you through activities such as uploading new content, managing form emails, and other critical tasks.
- You can provide feedback at this stage not only about the user-facing site, but also the back-end where things are updated so that there are no unpleasant surprises come launch day.
- We’ll also take the prototype to more members of your target audience to once again ensure we’re on track to hit your goals.
Launch Prep
- At this stage we put on music to simulate an 80s movie montage and work through your final edits.
- The site is tweaked and polished. We get the analytics installed, make sure it looks solid across all current browsers, and go through a huge checklist to get it ready for prime time.
Launch!
- All our hard work and training has led to this: it’s time to toss the bird out of the nest and see if it’ll fly – and fly it shall!
- We’ll closely monitor how everything plays out and track our goals to make sure that users are finding what they need.
Ongoing Support
- Should you decide this whole “internet thing” just isn’t your cup of tea, we can remain in constant contact to serve all your internet needs.
- Be it security, backups, or content updating, just let us know what tasks you hate to do and we’ll take them off your plate so you can get back to the things you enjoy.