Concept
The process of taking a web site from an idea to reality can be very complex and time consuming. It will involve using either existing or new logos or typographic work and will form another marketing arm for your business. We have devised a process to make this relatively simple for all parties involved

Flat File Design
When we are commissioned to build or redesign a website we initially provide some ideas and designs on our servers with a dedicated URL where they may be viewed in the live environment. The designs will include:

Home Page Design
This should be an active “busy” page which attracts attention, is clear and professional and which is easy to navigate to other areas of the site. We will create several designs for the home page and you will be able to view these on your UAT (User Acceptance Testing) site and give us direct feedback on the areas you wish to incorporate and those which will need to be amended. Once we have agreed the home page we will move onto the secondary pages.

Secondary Page Design
The secondary page, a template for all other pages on the site, holds the majority of the information for your site and, depending on the type of content to be displayed, will be designed to suit your requirements. Once again we will provide several different designs which will be available on your UAT site. You will then be able to view these and we can work together to discuss what you want to keep and change.

It should be noted that these designs are a natural follow on from any logo/typographical design changes that may have been commissioned or which are already being used. (Naturally we would be unable to provide our designs until any ongoing logo and typographical work has been agreed and signed off.)

Concurrently with the design process we will liaise with your team and collate the information you wish to display on your site. This information assist us in designing the site, its navigation and layout.

The above process has the advantage of demonstrating colour on various screen formats as well as giving a feel for how the final pages may appear. We would suggest that the site is viewed over a number of different screen formats i.e. monitor 17”, 21”, LCD etc. with different screen settings. For optimum usage our sites are designed for Internet Explorer v6.0 and above with a resolution of 1024x768 pixels.

Flat File to HTML
To enable greater working flexibility with our clients’ website pages, the development involves a four stage process. This enables us to implement strict source control as the code for the site moves from editable code to first stage development test, then to internal Quality Assurance (QA) before it moves to our external User Acceptance Testing (UAT) site where you will be able to view and sign-off changes before the site finally reaches the live production site.

Once the outline design has been agreed and signed off, we construct a beta site on our servers, for this purpose we will allocate a dedicated URL for you to use.

During the construction phase we will upload various versions of the site from our development environment in order that you may experience a ‘live’ site. This will have navigation and we will liaise closely with you during this phase to clarify any aspects that may need to be amended. It should be stated that the design by this stage would have already been agreed and signed off.

All text content is initially collated and placed in a MSWord document. During the initial stages of the project we would wish to incorporate as much of the digital text as possible in this document, which will form a master that we will continually update. This will form the main working document between us and will be exchanged many times during the construction phase as text is amended, it will be version controlled and as content moves to the site the document will diminish in size until the site is complete with final sign-off.

We would agree a date for the site completion following which further changes will be incorporated under the management fee, unless they are deemed to be major changes.

User Acceptance Testing (UAT)
As well as having access to your main site you will also have a UAT version of your site. This is a fully functional version of your site where you can view all changes that have been made before they go live. This site would normally be available at a dedicated URL and can be viewed at any time.

Should you have access to our Portal for you own site amendments, the UAT version of the portal links into the UAT version of your site which gives you the ability to experiment with the portal and the effect it has on your site, you can do so knowing it will not affect you production “live” site.

Current Clients
Please contact us if you are interested and wish to see examples of our work.