Since building our first website in late 1994, we've tried hard to refine our web development process to fit nearly any client. The key is that it is a highly flexible, five step process that makes listening to our clients' needs and goals the cornerstone every step of the way.

Understanding your Internet-related goals is the key. We work with you to define current or immediate needs and also help you understand that many projects are better developed using several phases rather than one long, complex project. We take time to understand and research your industry and your unique competitive environment to ensure that our strategy best matches your goals. We also investigate and define any current technology issues, working with legacy systems or preferred applications. We'll help you define a clear strategic plan of action for working with us on getting the site built. (In our eyes, good web development has always been a partnership between you and our team.) We'll define schedules, refine the detailed work plan, and install a custom tracking system that enables you to keep your team up to date on the development of your site.

This part of the process is clearly focused on the website user. Good sites are clearly about communication, and we often take on the role of an advocate for the site visitor. We must understand all of the elements and motivation for why visitors are coming to the site. What is their motivation for visiting the site? Are they looking for a solution? Are you in more than one type of related industry that needs clarification? What is the functionality of the site? Is there a financial transaction that we must lead people towards? What will the site need a year from now? The site definition phase enables us to define four key site points: Navigational/site architecture (How can visitors quickly and intuitively find the information they need?) Technical issues and requirements. (What applications drive the information on the site and how will they work? Is it static or dynamically built?) Creative aspects. (How will the site look and feel?) Infrastructure. (How will the site be maintained and updated?)

We define any key design elements that the company might currently be using. Define overall style of site, cover as needed issues of color, typography, plug-in usage, etc. We then build a working prototype to further refine our design concepts. Once structural basics are in place, we complete information, interaction, and interface design. We develop content and refine the technology architecture. The result is a working two to three screen prototype placed on our test internet site for real world testing of a wide range of issues, including cross-platform browser compatibility, user functionality and download time.

This step is where the site goes through its finishing stages and moves into a final round of "friends and family" testing. At this stage, we also refine any site management issues and provide custom training, if required for clients that choose to manage their own site. Finally, we test and insure that any legacy systems that we've connected to are fully functioning and secure. We test and quality assure all deliverables and make sure you understand how it functions and your future options in regards to managing and maintaining the site.

After the site is launched, our team will monitor the site, ensuring that all systems and programming are functioning correctly. We help clients formalize a feedback system that provides essential ongoing usability feedback about how people are using the site. For many clients, site promotion is an increasingly important issue, whether they're B-to-C or B-to-B. Our experienced marketing staff designs and executes a custom marketing and promotion plan to bring visitors to the site, increase media awareness and promote the site within an organization. Finally, with the speed of which new technology is being developed for the Internet, we'll share with you our thoughts and vision on what future solutions might look like and the effect they might have on future generations of your website.