Design Process
Strong project management skills and a defined development process are key factors for a successful web initiative. Visual Net Design’s work plan is one that insures our clients that the project is completed in a timely manner, on budget and to your complete satisfaction. In order to achieve successful projects, Visual Net Design follows this nine-step process:
Phase one - brainstorming
Getting to know you. By getting to know our clients and understanding how they conduct business, it helps us define specific goals and objectives. This constitutes the first step in our journey. Visual Net Design’s brainstorming team will provide you clear direction to the approach and implementation of a customized solution for your business.
Our team prides itself on leading prospective clients towards workable solutions that address the target audience and primary user tasks, while supporting each company's long-term business goals.
Phase two - proposal
Clearly defined. The VND team will produce forward-thinking options that streamline processes from request through site launch. Project documentation directing the production of the web site will include the following:
• Detailed Site Map: The site map provides a snapshot of the primary and secondary navigation, along with all sub-navigation pages that comprise the site.
• Fixed-Price Proposal w/Options: Estimates are provided as a fixed-price range with the range being derived from a menu list of options. Each option features its own line item price, and corresponds to an identified module within the site architecture. This approach enables clients to budget more accurately for the project.
Phase three - timeline
Time is of the essence. Once a prospective client selects Visual Net Design to complete their project, a project hand-off meeting will be scheduled to occur with lead programmer, designer and Project Manager within the first five days following the receipt of the signed contract and initial 50% payment.
The project manager will create a timeline based upon VND’s current project load. The timeline will include:
• Full project schedule from project start to site launch
• All client sign-off points
• Invoice milestones
It's important to note that the timeline serves as a guide, and client delays (e.g. initial payment, content delivery, sign-off points, etc.) can postpone fixed milestones and increase task durations, resulting in launch date extensions.
Phase four - design
Customizable and innovative. Visitors can quickly evaluate a site by design alone in a matter of seconds. When designing a site, it's imperative to pay attention to layout, typography, images and consistency. The design of the site should reflect both the site's functional purpose, as well as keeping the integrity of the company and type of business it is designed for.
Client interviews and creative meetings are used to capture the tone and spirit of your organization. VND has a series of refined processes ensuring the final design captures the client's vision for the feel of the site.
It is common to show 2-3 separate rounds of design mockups. Each round will contain 3-5 variations or mockups. Client feedback is carefully integrated into each new round of mockups. We post all mockups to our client's project notes page and review the designs and strategies with the client.
The chosen design is always unique in which we balance our expert knowledge of web design best practices, married with our client's target audience and unique purpose.
Phase five - programming
The Core. Because many of VND’s clients rely on mixed sets of web technologies, we can propose a relatively unbiased recommendation. VND can deliver a full Microsoft .Net application or develop on open source technologies like PHP, MySQL and others. Depending on what the in-house team is most comfortable with, the programming language and database selection can be optimized based on this and other key variables.
Our completed sites and applications can be easily managed in-house or by VND programmers. Our process includes publishing a descriptive data model and noting all code. This system plans for any further improvements as new functionality is discovered or required, and this adaptive approach ensures the maximum project life span.
The programming phase consists of the following components:
• Page Templates: With the design stage complete, VND will cut the graphics in order to create standard first and second-level page templates. These will be used when laying out the various pages of the site skeleton.
• Barebone Site: The barebone site represents content-free draft of the site with integrated global navigation and page component elements.
• Finish-Out: When the barebone site is complete, VND will proceed to integrate all of the client's content into the final draft of the site.
• Secure Administration: VND’s secure back-end browser interfaces are designed for easy manipulation of content. Our clients demand processes that are so simple to use, they don't require instructions. Clients receive a site administration area allowing key personnel to instantaneously make changes and updates without any knowledge of code. The site administration can be easily expanded for future functionality.
Phase six – quality control
Attention to detail. VND has perfected a system to thoroughly test performance, browser idiosyncrasies, usability and accessibility. Leveraging published usability & accessibility research techniques, we create solutions that are as intuitive as they are creative and strategic.
Following development, the VND team is tasked with testing and reviewing the final web site prior for usability and functionality. From content review to graphics compression, each person employs their own expertise in reviewing the site. When everything is operating according to the client’s specifications, the site is officially launched.
Phase seven - hosting
Service and convenience. Visual Net Design has created and engineered a reliable and high performance hosting solution with you in mind. The infrastructure and the tools offered in the hosting environment deliver a cost-effective and powerful option for web and email hosting. These options include:
• Shared Hosting: The high-speed VND shared hosting platform includes a primary server, as well as a warm back-up server that is synchronized real-time with the primary. The primary server is continuously monitored to ensure it is fully operational, and the back-up is switched. VND is vigilant to ensure the network resources allow for high performance hosting. VND will proactively expand network resources as needed to ensure sites load and perform at the highest industry standards, as benchmarked against the leading hosting companies.
• Dedicated Hosting: VND can setup and manage a high-performance dedicated server for clients as well, if required. The benefits of the VND dedicated hosting platform includes increased performance and security as all server resources are dedicated to the one client's web sites. Additionally, the dedicated setup allows for increased flexibility with software add-ons and custom configuration.
Phase eight - site launch
It all comes full circle. VND’s work is always delivered with immense pride. Our design and programming teams lead each project in an organized manner, while always keeping an eye on the timeline and bottom line.
Our solutions are forward-thinking to ensure clients can compete in today and tomorrow’s market. VND always engineers sites to be easily expandable for future integration projects.
Phase nine - continuing support
We are here for you. We at VND, pride ourselves on providing the upmost customer service throughout the development of each project and beyond. VND will maintain a list of potential future phase enhancements which can be integrated at any time your company wishes.
Following a project's completion, VND will be available for maintenance and support as needed. Minor requested modifications can be billed at our hourly rate, while larger projects can be scoped out with a new proposal. Or if you choose, VND offers a maintenance agreement for each site we design. This allows maintenance to your site to be completed as needed for a monthly fee at a reduced hourly rate.