Planing
Taking a full technical brief and producing a planning document of all the functions and technical requirements of the site.
This stage involves heavy client consultation as well as thorough research into browsing habits, and likely website usage. We are able, at the end of this stage to determine the full and required functionality of all the site components.
Information Architecture
Produce a site map off every page on the site, including administration, user accounts, user tools etc
Also based upon research and feedback we will map out all the site pages which will be present at launch and as a part of the project. We will still build the site in a way that facilitates future expansion but it is important to envisage the hierarchy of the pages and the way in which the user will arrive at the critical point ( be it sale/ registration/ contact ) as smoothly as possible.
Wire frames and Page functions for all pages.
This, is taking the stages above and creating wireframes ( these are kind of plain text descriptions of the elements and information to be included in each and every site page). Once this stage is complete we will know exactly what information will be included on each page and how it will interact with each other page in turn. We will be effectively presenting the pages’ content without any visuals nor ( necessarily ) any indication of position on page.
Website design
Initially, following a design brief with the client/ agency we will produce designs for the client to give us feedback upon. The initial designs may be simple, but through an iterative process we will create graphic ( psd/ jpg format ) designs for each type of site page ( commonly 4-5 different layouts – though more in some cases). Once we have had a design sign off from the person responsible we can move on to creating HTML templates.
HTML Template Development
The psd’s are ‘cut up’ into their individual graphic components and the HTML is created driven by CSS Style Sheets. The process will create webpages which exactly represent the signed off designs. These templates are, during the process, tested on a variety of browsers and operating systems to ensure full compatibility and accessibility for all web users.
Website development
The HTML is now incorporated into the final website structure. Just as with component graphics; routines, forms, scripts and code are ‘cut up’ and assimilated to build a functional website. Extensive testing of all applications and functions are carried out during this phase.