Our Process - Initial Meetings
Following your first contact with us we will arrange an initial meeting to discuss your requirements in detail. This will allow us to determine the most expedient and cost-efficient way to realise your goals. All our services are bespoke and such a meeting is essential before we can begin to specify solutions, timescales and costs for your project.
In advance of our initial meeting we would ask you to detail your requirements for the project in the form of a short project brief, outlining the key functions and aims of the project.
Producing a short project brief and sending it to us, and any alternative providers you are in contact with, before the initial meeting enables us to obtain a good understanding of your requirements and come to the meeting armed with questions about your project and suggestion for possible solutions.
This brief also allows you to present your requirements to all your possible providers in the same format, with the same level of detail, and covering the same points. All the proposals you receive will then be directly comparable. For more information on the functional specification please click the link.
Our primary aim at this initial stage is to listen to your ideas about your project, gain an overview of your business and acquire a thorough understanding of the requirements and business objectives of your project.
Discussions in this phase will centre on the following:
Why are you undertaking the project?
Knowing why you are undertaking the project will help us understand what will make the project a success for you. Our experience combined with this knowledge may also enable us to suggest new areas of functionality that you hadn’t considered.
Who is your target audience likely to be?
In formulating the best possible solution for your project requirements an understanding of the nature and size of your target audience is crucial. Compatibility choices, and hardware and software specifications are largely driven by these definitions and incorrect assumptions here can dramatically change a project’s scope, timescale and cost.
What do you want the project to achieve?
The most important indicator of a project’s success is whether it met its initial project goals. Our understanding of your project’s goals is important in ensuring the success of the finished project. Understanding your project’s goals will also allow us to use our experience to make sure that they can be achieved with the proposed functional requirements and that they reflect your reasons for undertaking the project.
What are the project’s functional requirements?
Analysis of your project’s functional requirements will define most of the project’s scope and underpins the functional specification we prepare. An understanding of your functional requirements is crucial as this ensures that our proposal is accurately priced and the correct architecture and technologies are specified.
We will need to be aware of all your requirements regarding the project, including, for instance, details of informational elements you wish to include in the project, the type of interface design you require, and your thoughts on navigation, layout and functionality requirements.
What is your estimated budget for the project?
The proposed budget can be a tricky subject as clients are sometimes unwilling to specify a sum for fear of being overcharged. However, in our experience, discussion of approximate budgets can be helpful. All products and services come with various levels of quality, durability, reusability and after-sales service and this will affect the price. Website and multimedia development is no different and it is therefore important to know what level of budget you are working to so that we can advise you appropriately.
Should there be budgeting problems we can work with you to find alternative solutions and hopefully deliver a project that still meets your requirements, perhaps by removing some of the less essential functionality or looking at phasing the project in such a way as to provide a revenue stream coming in from Phase One allowing the funding of Phase Two. In this way we would hope to deliver a project that both meets your essential requirements and is within your budget.
As a sign of our commitment to a transparent process we have published our fees on this website. Please click the link to view them.
What, if any, are the project restraints?
Any restraints introduced once the project has already begun can seriously undermine its success. If the project does have restraints, such as specific hardware and software to be used, minimum screen resolutions, integration with existing or legacy systems etc, we need to know about them to make sure our solution will perform exactly as required.
When would you like the development work to begin?
Knowing when you would like the development work on your project to begin gives us the opportunity to set a realistic timetable for the project and allows us to ensure that the services of any partners we may be required to work with are secured.
When do you want your project to be fully operational?
We will need to know the proposed launch date of your project as this will allow us to ascertain whether, based on your requirements, such a time frame is viable.
How will you judge your project a success?
Together we will work out what criteria you will be using to judge your project a success. Some of these will stem from our discussions on why you are undertaking the project and what you want your project to achieve, however we will also need to know about any other criteria you may consider critical. Based on this information we will incorporate appropriate information storage and measurement mechanisms into our solution.
The next step in the typical project process is a phase of project planning. Please click the link to see more information about the project planning process.