An Important Guide to Your Next Successful Web Project
As a client/customer on your journey of a thousand miles, across the vast seas and among the many shores in search of web development services; whether it is for expanding a brand, establishing a web presence, creating a new website, redesigning an already existing website or developing a highly scalable web application. You are guaranteed to meet many who will provide you with many reasons as to why you need their services but very few or none will educate you as to how you can ensure that your project is a success.
Unlike our competitors, at Caribonix we believe in offering our customers solutions and not just services. We also believe in empowering our customers, allowing them to make well informed decisions while providing them with valid reasons to each solution and why it is best suited for their unique need. I’ve decided to compile this guide to continue to inform, empower, educate and serve our clients. Whether you’re a current, prospective or even a non-client; you can use this guide to ensure that your projects are successful no matter who the service provider.
Trusting that you have already done your research on your selected service provider, I will guide you through the stages (sometimes call phases) of a project, once the decision has been made to invest in a website or web application. As you ensure that special care is taken in order to have your project delivered within the specified time frame and within your budget.
Tip: No matter how big or small the job or project maybe, treat it seriously and make sure you know what’s being done on your behalf.
In every project, big or small, there are a few main milestones which are always present. They are often performed in cycles or iterations during the entire project development life span. So let’s jump straight into them:
Technical Specification – As the client (customer), this area is where you will be doing most of your heavy lifting. It is your job to provide a clear outline of project requirements and user specifications as to what you may want or need. Based on experience, while some clients may be more than capable of producing this, the majority of clients may not be able to effectively express their wants and needs. This is where the selected service provider needs to step in to help you the client, as you effectively determine exactly what’s needed for the project together.
Developing a detailed Technical Specification helps both you and your selected service provider gain complete understanding of what is needed in order to successfully deliver your new website or web application. It serves as a guide highlighting features that are the most valuable and those that are not, allowing decisions to be quickly made on including or excluding certain features so as to not exceed the given budget and guidance during planning.
Planning – Planning is KING!! Need i say it again? Planning is KING and is of vital importance to any project. Planning ensures that all objectives, resources, time frames etc. can be properly utilized and efficiently managed in order to ensure that a project is successful and is delivered on time.
Make sure that you fully understand the details of the plan before any work on the project begins. This will enable you to know what is being worked on and when.
Technology – Whether you are a tech person or not it’s always a good idea to know a little bit about what’s going on under the hood. Think of it like driving a car and knowing what type of gas it uses at the fueling station. Knowing how certain web technologies work will go a long way towards helping you navigate your way around your website or web application.
After all the requirements have been gathered and the project has been planned, the next step is to determine the technology which allows the functionality to be efficiently implemented. At this stage, I always encourage my clients to ask as many questions as they would like so I can go over and explain anything that they don’t fully understand.
Tip: Ensure that the service provider has sufficient knowledge and experience in a variety of technologies which would enable them to decide on the best possible set or combination of technologies suited for your needs. Many projects fail due to poor selection of technology or lack of experience in a specific area.
Development – At this stage of the project there’s nothing much you can do , the requirements have been given, the plan has been set and the technologies which are best suited for your project has been determined. So should you just sit back and relax? The answer is NO! Here at Caribonix our clients benefit from a top secret communication tool which helps make this stage as engaging as possible (Sorry can’t tell you what it is, you would have to become a client of Caribonix to find out).
At this stage of the project it is vital that the communication lines between you and your selected service provider remains open at all times. To ensure that you are aware of what’s going on and to be assured that everything is going according to plan.
Every Development Team has their own way of handling projects and executing projects plans. Here at Caribonix our development team culture, is client centered so if you want to pop by and write a few lines of Code we are open for you to do so. (I have witness great joy on one of our client’s face when he was able to edit and see his changes happen right before his eyes.) Always remember to provide adequate space so your selected service provider can get your project completed, while at the same time remaining in direct communication, receiving milestones updates and deliverables to confirm that everything is on track.
Tip: Due to poor team management, projects can get out of control and often lead to failed projects so be sure to do your homework and research before deciding on a service provider.
Your Turn to Share
If you found this article useful or would like me to write on a specific area/ topic that would help further empower you as a business owner leave a note in the comments below.