We believe that the key to online success lies in a fundamental commitment to flexibility; that the smartest companies and organizations effectively leverage available resources to build robust, focused solutions that can accommodate the fundamentally shifting, evolutionary nature of Internet technology. This philosophy plays out both in our organizational structure and in our site-development process.

• Project Team Selection

Our work begins with the selection of a custom site-development team by our core project management, content design, and technology strategists. Our lead strategists each have over 10 years experience in web applications,  communications, informational/educational design, and strategic planning, as well as significant media industry and technology infrastructure experience.

Our core strategists contract each project’s custom team from among our network of skilled partners and associates. Every member of our network has worked closely with one or more members of our core team and has extensive expertise in his/her specialty field, as well as a special focus on meeting the needs of non-profit and educational organizations.

• Site Development Process

Our development process begins by formulating a coherent, comprehensive digital strategy – always in partnership with our clients, and never without clear consideration of organizational objectives, site audiences, and the organization’s long-term technology and site-maintenance needs. Once this foundation has been laid, we progress through a well-established and systematic site-development process designed to address every key facet of a project’s technology, communication, and design goals.

Key steps include the following:

1. Requirements & Planning Phase

Strategic planning is the most critical – and most often overlooked – part of any complex web-development project. During the requirements phase, we work with the client to make sure that all key considerations have been addressed before finalizing decisions about technology and beginning to work on the informational architecture to be implemented in the site. The requirements phase is essential to the production of a realistic, detailed budget and timeline for the site build.

2. The Architecture Phase

During this phase, we work with you to fully define and specify the informational architecture, technological infrastructure, and “look and feel” of the different sections of the site. The phase is initiated by the project kickoff meeting and concludes with the delivery of a project design document that contains the following key information:

• Design Concept. This captures the essential human and aesthetic concerns necessary to make the site successful, including tone, style, color palette and image types, branding issues, and level of graphic intensity.
• Technical/Informational Architecture. This is a comprehensive blueprint for the site, including graphical depiction (“wireframe”) of the site, based on our design strategy. It allows all of us to “see” how the site will function, catcherrors in logic, and discover more efficient means for visitors to explore the site
• Functional Specifications. This is a highly detailed listing of the functionality of each element of the site. It’s a substantial part of the “blueprint” we use to build a site.
  
• Content Matrix. This is a document we create to help us identify the content assets available and those needed to build the final version of the site. This document is also a key project management tool.

3. The Design Phase

This is the process of creating the site’s look and feel. Our designers take the information architecture and creative brief that have been developed and prepare graphical treatments for client review and approval.

4. Technology & Production Phases

During these phases, we install and set up any new technology needed and initiate the programming and database development necessary to build custom features. This step begins as soon as all functional and technical requirements have been finalized and approved by the client.

This phase also includes the building of both the user interface and the technology back end. Here, we will create graphic assets, as well as complete the initial build of the site’s databases. Quality assurance also begins during this step, ensuring that the technology being developed is be functional and aesthetically consistent across all desired platforms and browsers.

5. Quality Assurance & Launch

Full site testing and debugging is done by programmers throughout technical development. The site is then thoroughly combed for bugs and possible security holes on a testig server. The final round of testing is be done in a "soft launch" phase. When QA is complete, the site “goes live” on the hard launch date.