Working with a web studio that will develop your first website or a redesign of an existing business site presents some challenges. Usually, they’ll have a team of people to discuss the project with you, including a graphic designer, a programmer, a user-interface lead, and several specialists. Understanding what each person does and how they can help with the project is confusing for most first-time clients.
Here are four tips to get the best out of working with a web studio for your website.
Discuss Your Site Goals Clearly
Unless you have a clear idea of what you want from your website and can articulate that to the web studio, they’ll be flying blind. While they’re well-versed in asking open-ended questions to pull out of you what your goals are, the more you can explain what you want, the better positioned you’ll be.
For example, if a website using the WordPress platform that lets you create new content without the studio doing it for you is a priority, state that. Many web design Minneapolis studios use WordPress now, but there are still some that use other content-management systems besides WP.
Set Enough Milestones
A milestone is a stage in the project to be reached. It’s a good point to pause to examine the results so far, see how they stack up and whether the project is on-time for the delivery date, or not. In case there are any deviations or other unsatisfactory things happening on the project, setting more milestones can avoid nasty surprises. Be aware that having to backtrack will extend the delivery date and potentially cause a conflict over who’s responsible for the additional development time.
Scope Creep
In most cases, it’s the client who’s guilty of this one. Scope creep is where the client sneaks in different additional features that they wish to have. Usually, they try to claim that it was all part of the original agreement or implied in the agreement, even if it was never spelled out chapter and verse. Scope creep causes conflict with the web studio, questions over project cost, and increased difficulties in delivering on time. Don’t do it.
Avoid Bleeding Edge Features
Some design studios want to try out new features that have just been released. These bleeding edge features or innovative design ideas are fun but can create issues where people with older PC’s, Mac’s, or smartphones won’t be able to use the website. Alternatively, they can use it but are unable to access the new feature. It’s much better to have a site developed that will work with a web browser and on computing devices that are at least a couple of years old, to avoid excluding potential visitors.
When working with a web studio, it’s critically important to plan things out clearly from the outset. When you have unspoken expectations that the studio is unaware of, then you’ll be asking where a certain feature is at the handover of the site and receive blank looks from the web team. The clearer you are at every step of the way, the better the results you’ll receive.