Our Process - Project Development
Following acceptance of our proposal and the signing of the development contract, the process of project development can commence. To ensure the most effective solution is delivered within the deadlines specified, we follow a strict project development process. This process differs depending on the type of development being undertaken; the process for website development would be different to the process of multimedia development.
Below is an overview of the typical process we would undertake during project development for a website. If you require details of other development processes then please click the link to contact us.
From the outset, and at all stages, your project will be available for evaluation on our development server. We strongly encourage regular progress monitoring by our clients to ensure any misunderstandings are identified and rectified as soon as possible.
Identity, Branding and Design
We have extensive experience of website design and have found that the following process achieves the most appropriate design and layout for your project:
- An initial meeting with you to discuss your ideas and likes and dislikes in terms of design and layout. Together we will try to find some existing sites on the internet that illustrate concepts that you love or loathe, which will give us a better understanding of what you are looking for.
- Based on our meeting, three first-stage designs will be prepared by OBS Group for your evaluation. These designs will be for the Home Page of the site and will represent three alternative styles and layouts.
- You will be asked to comment on these visuals and indicate your preferences.
- In response to your comments, OBS Group will produce a further set of visuals that will comprise a Home Page and key internal pages for your evaluation.
- You will again be asked to comment on these visuals and submit your feedback to OBS Group.
- If further amendments or modifications are required, OBS Group will carry these out in accordance with your specifications.
- Once the design is approved, you will be asked to submit written sign-off to OBS Group.
The Site Prototype
The next stage of the project development consists of OBS Group building an HTML prototype of the website for your evaluation and acceptance testing. This prototype will contain all the website pages that will be present in the finished site and will feature fully-functioning navigation.
Creation of the prototype gives you an excellent opportunity to preview the end-product in an environment where it is easy for OBS Group to make changes to achieve your optimum solution. This is the stage where most of the refinements to your site will be made.
When you are happy that the prototype meets your requirements, you will be asked to submit written sign-off to OBS Group.
The Site Build
The site build will involve OBS Group designing and developing the database schema (structure) that best supports the data requirements of your project. With the database in place and appropriately normalised we will start developing the site, using the HTML prototype as the basis for this development.
The code will be correctly factored into components according to their required functionality. Each component will be tested during development to ensure optimum performance before being integrated into the project.
Testing and Evaluation
The site will be rigorously tested both during development and when it is completed. This process will involve verifying that all functional elements of the site work as specified, and browser and screen specifications have been adhered to. This stage in the site development will also involve stress testing the site to check for any performance bottlenecks or undesired behaviour at high stress levels. Any issues that arise will be resolved. Some initial index tuning will also be carried out on the database at this stage to ensure that it is running as efficiently as possible.
At this stage, following your own evaluation and testing, you will be asked to supply written sign-off for the project.
Deployment
The entire project will be deployed to the target hosting environment for which it was designed.
Full copies of all the software written by us for the project and any other assets created by us will be distributed to you on CD-ROM.
Final Testing
The site will undergo a stage of final testing in its live hosting environment to ensure deployment was completed successfully. Provided enough profiling data is available to make it viable, some further database index tuning maybe undertaken at this point.
Training
If training has been specified in the project proposal, this will be carried out after deployment.
During the project development phase your project will be managed by your own dedicated project manager who will be actively involved in your site’s development. Please click the link for further information about our project management service.
For information on our project follow-up process please click the link.