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What is a perfect web development project? We’ve spent a lot of time thinking about this over the last few years. Thinking about it from the client’s perspective and ours.

Little Fire do this all the time, it’s easy to forget that for most clients, dealing with a web-based project is something they engage with every few years at most. We aim to provide a smooth, clear journey for the client where they know what’s going on. We want our clients to be confident that what we have agreed at the end of the project will match their aspirations at the beginning. At any stage, a client should know what’s going on and how far down the line their project is.

It’s a risk for any client, building a new website or application. We want you to feel that you are in safe hands, that you know what is going on and why. If at all possible we want you to feel just a bit excited too. We’re creating something, we should be creating something better – we want you to be part of the process and enjoy being along for the ride.

Initial Consultation and Discovery Phase

Any project begins with an initial meeting.

Generally, at Little Fire, we dislike neologisms (they make us barf). We loathe the term ’journey’ when it doesn’t involve physical travel lasting days: we don‘t like the phrase ‘discovery phase’ much either.

But nonetheless we need to work with you to understand your business, target audience and vision for your project.

Key topics include:

  • Purpose of the website (e.g., informational, e-commerce, portfolio).
  • Functionality requirements (e.g., booking system, contact forms).
  • Design preferences and branding guidelines.
  • Competitor websites and inspiration for style and layout.
  • Budget, timelines, and deliverables.

A good web development team listens, asks relevant questions and note all your requirements to ensure a shared understanding of the project scope. We should also, at this stage, challenge your assumptions. This is our job – we do all the time – we have expertise, we want to share it. We want to create the best project we can for you.

Research, Proposal and Quotation

From the initial consultation, we then create a proposal. How detailed this will be depends on a number of factors including the complexity of the project, the degree to which the project is unique and the budget.

It may be that we don’t quite know how to get you where you need to be from our first meeting. So we often to take time to research what’s required and ensure your project is feasible. If it turns out we cannot do what you need, we’ll tell you now and, if we can, find you someone who can help you.

Once we’re confident we can do your job. We’ll make a start on your proposal.

A typical proposal includes:

  • A breakdown of the project scope.
  • An outline of the current situation and a description of what you wish to achieve,
  • Timeline with milestones and expected delivery dates.
  • Outline of the features and functionality.
  • Budget estimation and payment terms.

A proposal may take several rounds of discussion to create. As the project matures, every decision which is not specified (and there will be some) will be tested against the proposal. We‘ll consult wherever we can but, if the proposal is clear, it often isn’t necessary.

The proposal is important. We used to have clients who referred to it as a “Joint Requirements Specification”.

If you don’t know where you’re going, how will you know when you get there? A good proposal is the principal measure by which a project can be judged to have succeeded or failed.

Agreement

Once we’ve agreed the proposal, we’ll send you an agreement. This details our responsibilities to you and yours to us. No job thrives without the commitment of the client, if we spend months waiting for input or content, it becomes very difficult for us to know we’re doing the job you want and the project can sour.

The agreement may require a draft or two, particularly for a larger project.

Once you’ve signed the agreement, the game is on. Woohoo!

By this stage we’ve typically done quite a lot of work, including a lot of the hard thinking – we typically send an invoice at this stage.

Planning and Strategy

Before we let the web developers clatter at keyboards, we need to plan. Web development is not about doing work, it’s about doing the right work.

So before any developers get going:

  • Mapping the project: A visual representation of the projecct structure, including all principal pages and their hierarchy.
  • Wireframes: Low-fidelity sketches or digital blueprints that showcase the basic layout and flow of each page without any design elements. This allows you to provide feedback on structure and content layout early on.
  • Content Strategy: Discussion of what content is needed, who will provide it, and the tone and style of the copy. At this stage, decisions on SEO strategy and keywords are also made.

These are low-cost processes requiring little resource so you can make profound changes without any expense.

Design Phase

With the sitemap and wireframes approved, the design phase begins:

  • Mockups and Prototypes: Designers create high-fidelity mockups, which showcase the visual style, colours, typography, and branding. Some teams may also provide interactive prototypes to demonstrate user experience.
  • Feedback and Revisions: You can review the designs and provide feedback. This stage may involve several iterations until the you’re satisfied with the look and feel.
  • Responsive Design Considerations: At this point we’ll ensure the design is optimised for different devices, such as mobile, tablet, and desktop.

Development Phase

Once the you’re approved the designs, the development phase begins:

  • Front-End Development: The visual aspects of the website (user interface) are coded using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript to replicate the approved designs.
  • Back-End Development: The functionality and features of the site are developed. This includes setting up databases, CMS (Content Management System) integration, e-commerce systems, APIs and any other server-side functionality.
  • Content Integration: All content, such as text, images, videos, and product information, is added to the website. If we’re using a CMS, they we’ll provide access so you can manage content as needed.
  • Testing and Quality Assurance: The development team tests the website for usability, responsiveness, browser compatibility, and functionality to ensure it works as intended across different devices and platforms.

Client Review and Revisions

Once we’ve reached the point where the project meets the functionality required, we’ll release it to you.

We’ll give you access to a staging site or app. You can review the website and experience its functionality. Any bugs, issues, or final adjustments are addressed during this phase.

This process is called User Acceptance Testing (UAT). It’s where you can check that the design meets your expectations, that the functionality and experience is as required and the project proposal as been met.

We work hard to do a good job but you cannot mark your own homework. We welcome your feedback at this stage – it’s the second major period of interacting with you as a client. It can be a lively and exciting period.

It’s our responsibility to ensure the content matches whatever you have provided. It is yours to ensure it is accurate.

Training and Handover

If the website uses a CMS or has any user-manageable features. We’ll provide the training and documentation to ensure the you’re is comfortable making content updates or basic changes. If required, we can provide you with comprehensive documentation or video tutorials for reference.

Launch and Deployment

Once you give the final, written approval, the website is ready for launch:

  • Domain Setup and Hosting: We’ll migrate the project from the staging server to the live server. The development team assists with setting up the domain name, hosting, and ensuring SSL certificates are in place for security.
  • Final Checks: We conduct a thorough round of testing on the live server to ensure everything works perfectly in the live environment. Even for a simple site, this round is over 70 checks long.
  • Launch: Once the site is live, we’ll promote the site on our social media and website.

Post-Launch Support and Maintenance

After launch, the development team provides a period of support to address any issues that may arise or make small adjustments based on user feedback.

Analytics and Improvement

We build common analytics tools into every project. We always include Google Analytics and often include Microsoft Clarity. They are big bits of software but we’ll help you use them as best we can.

Anything we create, want to be sure it works for you. We want to hear from you, we want to make the changes you need to refine your project. Keep in touch: we will support you.

Ideally, we’ll enter an ongoing agreement with you. The internet is a dynamic place, it takes ongoing effort to keep a website or application running perfectly. Technical aspects of marketing (SEO and configuring Google advertising feedback) are completely in our wheelhouse (Barf!) and will help you grow (Barf!) your presence online.

So Does the Perfect Development Project Ever Happen?

It may surprise you but yes. Sometimes a project has too many unknowns to fully specify at the outset. A project occasionally overruns – in the vast majority of cases it’s because the client has not had time to provide the input we need. Sometimes, the project budget does not us allow us to complete each of the above steps in full. On one recent project, the client could manage large sections of the process themselves.

Nonetheless, setting all this out, it surprised us how many of our recent projects really do look like this.

If you have something you need to create online, you should talk to us. You’ll be in safe hands.