Development Process

Over the years, we've been perfecting a development process which we apply to all our medium to large projects. Smaller projects may not require this entire process, but the general routine will be the same.

Pre-Project Proposal

First you submit a detailed outline of what you and your readers will require from your new website. Providing there is enough detail, we will send you back an estimate.

Pre-Project Scope Outline

Once the estimate is agreed upon, we will enter the project into our project manager and draft up a scope document which outlines the features your new website will have. We will provide your team with a login to review and edit this document as needed. Once it's signed off on your end we will break down the project features into to-do lists and associate major milestones with dates in a time line. At this time we will also send you a proper quote.

Project Development & Staging

Once a small deposit is paid, we begin the work as outlined in the project manager. The development and milestones will be broken down into stages at which point you have familiarize yourself with your new website and provide us with feedback. At each stage we will knock items off the to-do lists and add new ones on as required providing they do not conflict with the original scope. Usually staging of your website will be provided and demo'd on our servers.

Project Delivery and Setup

Once the project is completed, signed off and the final deposit is paid, we can provide you with the deliverables. We can install your website for you for free providing it's on a host we've dealt with in the past or setup for you and we have appropriate access. Should it not be a host we've used before, or we do not have appropriate access, we will charge you hourly for this. If you're not interested in providing us with access to your hosting, we will provide you with a nicely zipped up copy of the website, design and database files which we've been using for your website for you to install yourselves.

Scope Creep

Usually through out a project changes or new features will come up. We will try our best to accommodate what we can, but should something not have been mentioned in or conflicts with the original scope, we reserve the right to put these into a "Post Project" to-do list. Once the project is finished and the final deposit is paid we can begin work on these tasks. We will such work on an hourly basis.

Bug Fixes, On Going Development and Support

Bug Fixes will be provided for 1 month after a project is complete. New features or major issues which will require a significant rewrite are not covered under this and instead will be billed on an hourly rate. On going development will be billed on an hourly rate. An estimate of hours will be provided ahead of time. Should you have major improvements to be made and would prefer to get billed a per-project rate, you will need to submit a proposal again and we will go through the full or partial development process again. Support will be provided via email. Any reasonable request will be answered for free. Should you want priority email or telephone support, we will bill you hourly for this.

Project Stages

Here's a general outline of the steps which we take for every major project. Of course not all projects contain all these steps, but it provides you a general outline.
  • Logo development
  • Website design in PSD
  • Branding packaged created
  • Content management prototype
  • Website design in xHTML/CSS
  • Website design applied to CMS prototype
  • CMS polish and bug fixes
  • Finished product delivered to client

Things we require of you

We work with you and as such, you have some responsibilities. Being able to depend on you for certain deliverables will allow us to stay on budget and proceed with out delays. If you are interested you can read more...

Milestones

You will be given milestones just as we will be. Any delay of your milestones will delay the project as a whole. The clients milestones usually just involve providing us with the feedback, so that we can progress to the next stage. If you don't provide us with feedback, this means we can not move forward. Any major delays on your end, could demote your project into a lower priority as we'll need to reorganized our work to fill schedules. We don't want to do this and would prefer if it never happens.

Website copy

It's important for us to get the copy for your website ahead of time should you want us to input and format it for you. We've found that this one issue can delay a website tremendously as it's one of the clients deliverables and lets face it, writing good copy is hard and takes time. If you're unable to provide the copy from a date we've agreed upon in the milestones, you will be hook for this and your website will be populated with lorum ipsum. We can assist you with this step after the project is delivered, but we will charge you an hourly rate to do so. It's in your best interest to provide us with something, even if it isn't perfect. We will be working with a content management system and it will be easy to update at a later time....but we prefer to have the copy available to us so we can format it all pretty. It really helps make your website look more complete.

Website images, logos and art

If you want something specific added into your website you will need to provide it for us ahead of time.

Taking the time to bug test and learn your website at various points of staging

We will be rolling out your project in stages. We'd prefer if you spend the time at each stage to learn the features which we recommend you learn. This will avoid any learning curve once your website is delivered and allow you to go live as soon as possible. It will also help us resolve any issues you might find before your final project is delivered.