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1
- SCOPE
& PROPOSAL
1-2 WEEKS - KICKOFF
MEETING
1-2 WEEKS - DISCOVERY
SESSIONS
1-2 Weeks - DISCOVERY
BOARDS
2-4 Weeks - STYLE
REVIEW
1 Day
INCEPTION PHASE: RESEARCH & STRATEGY
The first step for any project is to agree on the scope, timeline, and budget. Each project is different—even for the same client—so we work with you early on to find the right combination and get the project started in the right direction. As soon as we have a signed contract, we’re ready to go!INCEPTION PHASE: RESEARCH & STRATEGY
This is the first opportunity for the whole team to meet in person. We review the proposal and discuss goals, timeline, and budget. We explain project roles and responsibilities for each team. And lastly, we plan next steps and start preparation for the discovery sessions.
INCEPTION PHASE: RESEARCH & STRATEGY
We meet with your team, stakeholders throughout your organization, and your most important customers about their goals and needs. We review your capabilities to make sure we design something you can build and support. And we review your brand for communication and messaging requirements.
INCEPTION PHASE: RESEARCH & STRATEGY
We take everything learned in the discovery sessions and condense it into a set of quick-read presentation boards that will be used as a foundation for decision-making for the rest of the project. There’s a board for business goals & vision, a board for each persona, and a workflow board to plan for the future.
INCEPTION PHASE: RESEARCH & STRATEGY
When you say you want a “clean,” “transformative,” or “youthful” design, what do you mean? At this meeting, we get decision-makers together to discuss how they perceive different designs styles. It gets us on the same page about subjective design terms, and ensures that we don’t waste time during visual exploration.
- SCOPE
-
2
- WIREFRAME
CONCEPT
2-3 Weeks - Wireframe
Refinement
1-2 Weeks - Wireframe
Final
1 Week - Visual Design
Concept
2-3 Weeks - Visual Design
Refinement
1-2 Weeks - Visual
Design
Final
1 Week
ELABORATION PHASE: CONCEPT & DESIGN
During this phase, we translate ideas and strategy into a rough working protoype of the site. What kind of content is on each page? How do people move around the site? What kinds of features will we support? At this point the ideas are rough and we work closely with you to get feedback and test ideas.
ELABORATION PHASE: CONCEPT & DESIGN
At this point, the prototype is starting to look like a real site. The pages are refined to make sure they meet goals and work well. Where possible, we use real content. This is a good time to start user testing and showing the site internally for feedback. It’s also time to start producing content!
ELABORATION PHASE: CONCEPT & DESIGN
As wireframing winds down, we make any last adjustments based on user and internal feedback. It’s important to note that the final wireframes are the basis for the rest of the project—we will design and build to this content and feature set. Any major revisions beyond this point will likely impact the schedule and budget.
ELABORATION PHASE: CONCEPT & DESIGN
This is what most people think of as the fun part. We’ve decided what the pages do and how they work—now it’s time to decide how the site will look. Based on our style review, we’ll spend some time working on a few example pages exploring different visual ways to express our goals.
ELABORATION PHASE: CONCEPT & DESIGN
Which concept will we use? There will be a lot of opinions and discussion. Luckily, the discovery boards from the beginning of the project will help us make the right decisions during these reviews by providing objective measures and criteria. We’ll pick one design, refine it based on feedback, and extend it to several pages.
ELABORATION PHASE: CONCEPT & DESIGN
As the visual design phase winds down, we make any last refinements to the designs and start looking forward to production. When final designs are approved, we freeze the design and build to those comps. During this step we’ll also create a design guide to aid in content entry and page design for the production team, and future site updates.
- WIREFRAME
-
3
CONSTRUCTION PHASE: BUILD & TEST
This is the hard part for a lot of clients, because it’s hurry up and wait while our engineering and production teams turn static comps into real working pages. There’s a ton of work to do behind the scenes, from database design and CMS templates on the back end to HTML, CSS, and Javascript on the front end.
CONSTRUCTION PHASE: BUILD & TEST
If we’ve done our job and kept pushing you to develop content, you should be ready to put it all together. As page templates go live, we’ll work with you to start building pages and entering content into the the new site. There are also images to find, links to hook up, and another round of internal proofing.
CONSTRUCTION PHASE: BUILD & TEST
The final step in construction is quality assurance. We’ll look at cross-browser testing, make sure all the features work, double-check the content, and generally give it that final polish so it shines!
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4
TRANSITION PHASE: LAUNCH & MAINTAIN
Congratulations—you made it! We’ve come a long way from the initial meetings and strategy, built and tested wireframes, explored and refined visual design, and made the comps into a living, breathing site. Take a moment to savor success—you deserve it!
TRANSITION PHASE: LAUNCH & MAINTAIN
One of the last steps in the production process is to teach you how to use the site. You’ll learn how to update content, change images, create new pages, and manage users. In conjunction with the design guide and original discovery boards, you have all the tools you need to run the site for years to come.
TRANSITION PHASE: LAUNCH & MAINTAIN
Running a website is a big deal, and working out the kinks of a new system and workflow won’t happen overnight. We’re here for you during a one-month period of transition to fix bugs, answer questions, and generally make sure you feel comfortable with all of the facets of the new site.
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How long will it take to build a site? What will it cost?
Every project is different, but on average our larger sites take 4–8 months and cost anywhere from $15–$100K and up. We’ll work with you from the very beginning to help scope out the timeline and budget needed for each project.
How is this process different than other Web projects I’ve worked on?
A process of discovery, concept iteration, refinement, and production is common among many design and engineering disciplines. It’s not our process that’s different; it’s our people and experience. Our team has years of experience working on large-scale sites with a variety of clients. We know how to get consensus from large groups, buy-in from the executive suite, and the right feedback from your customers.
What can we do to ensure a successful project?
We’ve found there are many things you can do to increase the odds in your favor: Start with a clear idea of what you want to accomplish. Get an executive on board to help set business goals. Prioritize customers and recruit them for testing. Have an engaged project team and a dedicated project manager on your side. And take the time to follow the process—it works!
How do you work with distant clients?
Our secret is a mix of travel, communication, and online tools. We almost always visit clients in person for the kickoff meeting and discovery sessions. We set up weekly status calls to keep everyone on the same page. And we use Basecamp for online project messaging, tasks, and file sharing.