Web Candy's mission statement clearly states:
"To provide innovative designs, onetime delivery, and exceptional customer service"Anybody can make this statement but very few can deliver on it. Web Candy has developed a phased approach to web projects, this acts as a set of "Guidelines" which ensure that expectations are properly communicated and acted upon. This helps us keep projects on schedule and on budget.
Phase1 - Planning
Design a system to organize the parties involved in the project. The Web Candy Project manager, or account representative should organize an initial meeting between the customer and the required Web Candy personnel. Key contacts and working relationships will be established in order to coordinate the people who will be working together in their designated area of the project. Communication will mainly take place via e-mail, and phone calls, with meetings scheduled at intervals of the project. A secure FTP site can be set up if needed in order to exchange large files.
The planning stage clarifies the nature and scope of the web development project. If this stage is not performed well, it is unlikely that the project will be successful in meeting the customers' needs.
Controls should be in place to ensure that the final product will meet the specifications of the project. The results of the planning stage should include a project plan that:
- Analyzes and clearly outlines the customers' needs
- Reviews the current website
- Conceptual design and menu structure
- Stakeholder analysis, including users, and support personnel for the project
- Ensures that site can be produced within quality standards (web 2.0)
- Ensures that the project can be completed within time and budget constraints
- Formulates a solution that satisfies the customer's requirements
The end result of the Planning stage should be a mock up that the customer can sign off on in order to move the project to the next stage.
Phase 2 - Design
The web design process is usually repetitive, requiring thought and rethought, until a finished product emerges. This aspect of the design process sometimes makes it necessary to spend a little more time up front in planning the concept and final design. After the concept stage of a design is complete, the realization of the project speeds up dramatically, especially if it was properly thought out. Lack of an organized thought in the design process can result in the need for radical changes in the latter stages of a web development project, which can add redundancy of effort and increase time and costs. The following outlines Web Candy's creative process in point form, this process should be followed as closely as possible by the project manager to ensure a thorough understanding of the clients needs:
- Observation or notification of a need or difficulty within a current web site, or for a new site
- Analysis of the website needs or difficulties
- A survey of all available information, including site navigation, functionality, and a comparison to competitor, or similar sites
- A formulation of all objective web solutions available
- A critical analysis of these web solutions for their advantages and disadvantages
- Conceptualization for the new design or a solution for the current needs or difficulties
- Designing and building a site to test out the most promising solution or design, and the analysis, and perfection of the final solution or design
The end result of the Design Stage should be the creation of a web template based on the clients acceptance of a desired mock up, including main menu and sub menu structure, as well as the final placement of any modules such as flash components, calendars, etc.
Phase 3 - Execution
Executing consists of the migration of the content from the old site to the new site as well as the addition of new content Web Candy's execution process involves coordinating people and resources, as well as integrating and performing the activities of the project in accordance with the project schedule. The deliverables are completed as defined in the project deliverables.
Monitoring and Controlling consists of monitoring the deliverables and ensuring that they are all met as per the project schedule. Any deliverables that are not met will be analyzed in order to determine the reason that they were not meant and alternative action plans are developed to compensate for any delays in the overall project.
Monitoring and controlling the execution includes:
- Measuring the ongoing project activities (where we are)
- Monitoring the project variables (cost, effort, ...) against the project deliverables and the project schedule (where we should be)
- Identify corrective actions to properly address issues and risks (How can we get on track again)
The end result of the Execution Phase should be a working site that is ready to publish with all of the required content, graphics, and functionality required by the customer.
Phase 4 - Testing
In this stage of a project all content has been migrated and all required pictures and modules have been added to the site. Web Candy tests the site on Internet Explorer, 6, 7, and 8, as well as on Safari, and Mozilla Firefox. Any discrepancies between the browsers are adjusted so the final site views properly on all of the aforementioned browsers.
The end result of this phase is to ensure that, prior to publishing, the customers site is compatible with the aforementioned browsers.
Phase 5 - Training
Web Candy has produced its own training manuals for its CMS platform and the modules that are regularly used. Web Candy has experience training a wide variety of skill levels, from educators to ma and pa shops with very little technical background. We provide reference materials to all parties who attend our training seminars so that they may use them for future reference.
Each training session can be completed in 3-4 hours depending on the number of people in attendance. The end result of this phase is to ensure that the customer is trained to use their new site, and all of the incorporated features and modules.
Phase 6 - Commissioning of Project
The final stage of the project involves uploading the site files to the Web Candy server, or to an outside server as directed by the client. The end result of this phase is to publish the site and get it working for the customer.
Phase 7 - Training and Ongoing Post Project Support
Web Candy is dedicated to not only building a website that works, but to providing exceptional after sales service. Contact us today or request a free quote form to get started.
