Step 1 - Analysis and Design

The goal of the Analysis and Design step is to determine a client's vision for the project at hand. We realize that you have a Web Development problem you need to solve, and we want to understand what it is in order to come up with the best solution for you. In order to accomplish this, we meet with key people from your organization and work together to discuss and answer questions about the following five main topics:

• Project Analysis - determine your overall goals and what kind of site (i.e., Brochure-style, E-commerce, Community Portal, etc.) best fits your needs.
• Audience Analysis - determine who is going to view the site and their purpose for visiting. What message(s) do you wish to convey?
• Functional Design - discuss site specifications that will help determine exactly what needs to go into the site and how it will work. For example - what types of pages and text your site will contain, or how the checkout process should work when users want to purchase products.
• Database Design - identify all the data that will go into your site, where it will come from, and how it will relate to other data. Do we need to integrate with other non-Web-based systems, or do we need to report or export data to you in specific formats?
• Graphic Design - create the look and feel of the site by using your current brand elements or designing a completely new design that reflects your organization's personality and presents the image you wish to convey.

There are many other questions that need to be answered during the Analysis and Design process that are not listed here - questions about site marketing, content creation, business rules that need to be implemented, etc. The ultimate goal during this step is to translate your vision into a cohesive site development plan, so that we can deliver the site you want on time and on budget.

Step 2 - Development

During the Development step, our team of programmers, designers, and engineers translate the development plan created during Analysis and Design into the actual code used on the site. Most of the work that you, the client, need to do was completed with all of the questions and discussions during Analysis and Design, although you will need to gather and/or write the content that will go on the site. There are three main aspects to the Development step:

• Site Programming - We begin by setting up a password-protected prototype site for your project on one of our development servers. Then we create the database to the agreed upon specifications, and then start coding. We will first build the Maintenance Area of the site (the password-protected area where you will enter and manage site content), so that you can work on entering content while we are working on other parts of the site. We then move on to the creation of the "front end" of the site - the site that the public sees. During this process we encourage you to visit the prototype site, check our progress, and make suggestions or corrections.
  
  
• Content Population - This is where your part comes in. You know your business much better than we do, so we leave it to you to write about yourself. Or, if writing is not your forte, we have relationships with copywriters and can find someone to assist you. This process may sound simple, but there is always more content to write than you think. Some things, like product catalogs in digital format, or some types of data from an existing site, we may be able to import and save you substantial work. Ultimately, we will make every effort to ensure the content population of your site goes as smoothly as possible.
  
  
• Testing - Finally, we need to test everything. We test everything we are building as we go, but we also need to do some final testing of the entire system. After we finish building the site, but before we make it visible to the world, we want to be absolutely sure everything works.
  
  

The Development process is ultimately a fun one for you, as you get to sit back watch you new site slowly take shape, while we do most of the work.

Step 3 - Launch

When the site is finished and fully tested, it's time for launch. While we strive to make this process seem quite simple, there are a few little ins and outs involved in what is ultimately a joyous occasion. In order to make the site live, we need to transition the Database to the live server, set up the DNS and Email aliases, copy the files to their final location, and give it one more final testing run-through. Mindframe offers hosting services for our Web Development clients in our secure, on-site server facility, and if you choose to host with us, we will simply transition your site from a prototype server to a live Web server. If you host your site in-house or with another vendor, we will coordinate the transfer and set up process, and try to make it as easy and painless as possible for you.

When your site had been launched, the final two items that need to be taken care of are Search Engine Submission and Web Traffic Statistics set up. We will help you identify a strategy and the correct search terms to get the best possible placement with major search engines, or recommend additional solutions if you need them. For our hosted sites, we use the Urchin Web Statistics package, and will set the software up for your site, then show you how to read and understand your stats so you can make informed decisions about how best to drive traffic to your site.

Step 4 - Updates and Support

Congratulations! Your new site is finished and live for the entire world to see. And so the process ends, right? Not really. Over time, there are always going to be things you want to add or modify on your site. Though we try to build you exactly what you want, and also to empower you to make many edits and additions yourself, you will eventually want to make changes to your site.

This is where our continued Customer Support comes in. At Mindframe, we strive to keep all of our clients happy, so we try to be as responsive as possible. All Mindframe project managers are software developers, so when someone from your company calls they will get a technical answer immediately without having to go through a non-technical client management layer. This directly correlates to an improved level of accuracy and timeliness. Ongoing site updates are billed on a time and materials basis under a monthly Miscellaneous Updates invoice. Typically, a minor site update is done on the same day or with a one-day turnaround.

On the other hand, what if you want to build something new? For example, your site is working great, but you want to add an entirely new password-protected employee Intranet. We are always happy when our clients like our work and want to continue to work with us on new projects. If this is the case, we will sit down for a meeting with you and discuss what you want. If it is something fairly small and manageable, we will let you know how long we think it will take and then get to work. If it is a larger change or addition that requires a lot of planning and work, we will start a new project and make our way through the four-step process all over again.