We try to make each project we start our best work yet. In the past year, we have worked on over fifty different web and mobile applications. We have extensive experience doing what we do, so we want to share with you what we have learned in order for yours to be great.
Trust our experience.
As we begin working on your project, keep in mind why you hired us in the first place- we’re good at it. Although it is your project, we live and breathe this stuff. We dream about UI layouts, we get excited about new JavaScript functions, and we’re good at doing it. Our team collaborates often until they come up with something that fits your product. We get excited to share the different fonts we’ve found, color schemes that seem relevant, and animations we’ve created. It is important that you have a clear vision and goals for your project, but maintaining an open mind and allowing us to get creative along the way helps us provide you with something truly unique and innovative.
We are part of your team.
In fact, we strive to just be an extension of your existing team. For this to happen, good communication is vital. Be sure to give us a clear understanding of your expectations in regards to timeline, functionality, requirements for launch, etc. upfront so that we can do our part to meet them. We’ll also do our part to explain what is realistic and what is not. Also, be sure to include us in the decision making processes along the way. We have had plenty of instances where a client decided to change something, but did not tell us until after we had it designed out. Leaving us out of the decision making process can be time consuming and frustrating for both parties.
Our processes work.
Any client relationship requires a melding of processes. However, overly deviating from our processes run the risk of communication failure. You are going to get the best result when you allow us to follow our processes. We have unique time-management hurdles being a work-for-hire agency. We often work on up to 30 projects at one time. Each of our team members works on 2–5 projects simultaneously. If we had a different process for every project we work on, we would get lost. Don’t try to force us to do it your way. It is not that we are trying to be pushy. We just want the project to be successful.
Multiple projects improve efficiency.
Working on multiple projects help us stay productive during your downtime. Sometimes we will give you homework and will not be able to continue working until you have finished it. Instead of charging you while we twiddle our thumbs, we can be cost effective by jumping on different ones while you make decisions on your end. We also have found this helps avoid creative blocks by allowing us to jump on another project if one just isn’t clicking that day (better results for you, yay!). In order to manage these projects effectively, we have processes in place to avoid mishaps.
The more prepared you are, the less it will cost.
Finally, as we begin your project, prepare the most content and use cases beforehand as you can. While we definitely can and want to help you with this piece, it is much easier to design around pre existing content than to try to squeeze new content into an established design. Adding photos, text and functionality after work has begun leads to more time and costs. Some of this is inevitable, and sometimes it helps improve the project, but it always costs more. That decision is up to you, but we want you to be aware of the implications.
Be responsive.
Be sure to give timely, quality feedback. Remember that design is an iterative process, and providing the right kind of feedback in a timely manner will greatly speed up the process. The best kind of feedback provides insight to user needs and project goals, rather than aesthetics. Greats client are great at backing up suggestions with reasons related to the user experience, has a great sense of humor and tells the team when they are doing a good job.
Iterations cost more.
Remember that you are in control of the budget. As I said before, design is an iterative process. Each iteration takes time, and we do charge for our time. We expect to do multiple iterations on every project, but please keep in mind that the number of iterations we are able to do is entirely dependent on how many you are willing to fund.
Small changes can be big changes.
No project is complete until you say so. Even when we’ve adhered to every step of the project process, there is always a little polishing to be done once development is complete and the “finished” product is functional. We expect small changes to be requested, however, small changes that are dropped on us once a day can add up significantly. That can make the project become a lot more expensive than it has to be. Batching ten changes you want made on one day will more time/cost efficient than ten changes given to us periodically over a week.
I always believe that to be the best, you have to smell like the best, dress like the best, act like the best. When you throw your trash in the garbage can, it has to be better than anybody else who ever threw trash in the garbage can.
— Lil Wayne
We love what we do. Design and development is our passion. Following these general guidelines will improve the results of our work.