Phase 1

A client survey or forum will be conducted wherein specific questions will be asked that lead to a 'website profile' of the new site. A structured summary of the design issues addressed during the client survey will be distributed to the project team.

Milestones will be mutually scheduled to insure timely submission of deliverables for each phase by The Design People. Deadlines will also be set for the client to deliver content, branded collateral and marketing materials. Technical needs, logistical procedures and back-end integration will also be reviewed at this stage.

The flowchart representing site navigation will be reviewed. At this stage, The Design People will also analyze and streamline the site to minimize the amount of mouse clicks for a typical user to arrive at relevant content. A staging area will be created for the purpose of viewing work in progress, tests, concept designs, etc. The area will be accessible on the Web through a private URL, knowledge of which will be limited strictly to the parties involved.

Phase 2

A client survey or forum Based on thorough understanding of the project goals and the target audience, The Design People will develop one or more design concepts. They will serve as inspiration for subsequent identity and web site design directions. The visual components addressed will include identity, mood, color palette, graphic design, typographical treatments and navigation.

One distinctive art direction for the site will be created based on feedback from the design concepts. The final design presentation will include sample primary (home page), secondary (main sections) and tertiary page (typical information page) designs.

Design of accent images, header graphics, navigational buttons, and icons for main sections of the site begins in earnest at this stage. For animated elements, storyboards will be created. Art direction will follow the site structure and guidelines determined by the creative brief and final design presentation. Colors, fonts, logos, buttons/links, titles, labels, tables, banners and email flow are also finalized at this stage.

Phase 3

The goal of this stage will be to create a robust and dynamic web site. Menus are also developed in this stage. Forms that interact with potential visitors will be created, and an Internet presence with intuitive system features. The scope of work will include the creation of all the staged components. Typically, however, a series of minor revisions and final iterations will take place after the initial build until we have achieved the final functioning component item. The finalized component will be used for integration into the interface.

Alpha testing will be performed internally. Then, a beta version of the website will be uploaded to the staging area showing web page flow of the proposed primary, secondary and tertiary pages. This involves 'weaving' the home page with all templates below it to create a 'clickable' version of the website. The client will be given a user name and password to access the staging area to follow the progress of the website.

Phase 4

A client survey or forum If applicable, page titles, page descriptions and keywords are generated at this time. This process helps Internet search engines and directories (i.e. Yahoo!, MSN, Google, etc.) index the site.

The Design People will thoroughly test the prototype under different browsers including the latest versions of Internet Explorer, Firefox, on both PC and Mac platforms.

Clear Design Web ensures that your site contains the essential technologies and is accessible to a large audience. The server will go through rigorous testing to ensure application stability and security.

Upon approval, files are uploaded and site is launched. Final sign-off on the site is performed and marketing begins.