Custom Software Blogs
Software Development Planning: What to Consider
In our recent blog, Web Design versus Web Development: Information Design, we touched on things you need to consider when developing a new application for your business. In this article, we expand on that. If you’re thinking to yourself, “I’m still not sure exactly what solution I need,” we’ll help you focus in on the answer by looking at types of users and the desired outcomes. We’ll look at internal versus external users, and we’ll dive into outcomes such as marketing, revenue, and operations.
Understand What Your Business Needs
The primary goal of creating and investing in a custom software application for your business is to improve your business -- profitability, efficiency, customer experience, revenues, etc. You know that much. Now, you need to identify what your business really needs so that you can develop the right custom software solution for your users.
Web Design versus Web Development: Information Design
In previous posts, we covered the importance of choosing a developer versus a designer and whether to go with a custom built application versus a platform like Wordpress. This first decision between building a website or building a web application is vital. Here, we help make that decision a little easier, and we get you started in thinking about the information you will need to gather from your business processes to build the perfect application.
When Things Don’t Work Out: Firing Your Developer
We’ve all heard it before: breaking up is hard to do. Whether it’s a personal or professional relationship, pulling the plug on an arrangement that’s no longer working for you can be pretty tough, especially when there’s something important hanging on the line. In the case of web projects, you can feel intimidated to end a relationship with your developer for various reasons. But there may come a point when you have to fire your developer and go in a different direction. How do you know when that time has come? Keep reading.
What Should Be Happening During a Web Project?
Planning your web project takes time and lots of research, but once you’re done, the real work begins. However, most people don’t really know what should be happening during their web projects. Most follow an intricate, yet fluid, construction and execution process. In this article, we’ll go over what you should expect.
Picking The Right Partner...When You Need a Developer, Not a Designer
Creating something that is accessible globally via the Internet is essential for almost every business in operation today. The type of project you need depends on the industry you are in and what your ideal target audience needs from your web application. Picking the right partner is something you have to consider very closely.
When It's Not Just a Web Site You Need
Over the last couple blogs, we’ve touched on the importance of selecting the right type of project for your web needs. The first step is to determine whether or not you need a website or a web application. Here’s a quick and simple way to do that.
Hmm, Should I Go WordPress or Custom-Build?
In our last blog, I went over the importance of making goals with your web projects. However, before you can start making goals, you have to know exactly what type of project you’re going to be creating. With so many options available today, you have a choice to make: you can either go Wordpress or you can custom-build your project. But which is better? Well, that depends on a few different factors. Below are just a few things to consider when thinking about going WordPress or custom-build.
Before You Jump Into a Web Project Make Some Goals!
Making the decision to start a web project can seem overwhelming. There’s so much to know: audience, SEO, and catchy domain names are just a few. And unless you’re a web developer, it’s hard to sift through all the advice and add-ons to figure out exactly what you need. In this blog, we’re going to outline the four goals you need to set before you start your web project.
Development Diary 4: What Do You Mean, "Infrastructure"?
By far the most common oversight by clients (and often by inexperienced developers) is the long-term solution. We start projects so they can be finished, so that means that the project has to “live” somewhere for the foreseeable future, right? Most clients gloss over this need assuming the developer will take care of it. Other times, they wait until the day before the launch to find out the Developer didn’t plan. In the worst cases, the client has no idea where their digital product lives and the developer goes AWOL. It’s important to be a part of this planning from the beginning.
Development Diary: Silence Never Says Anything
Up until now in this series, we’ve primarily talked about what goes into building the application. There’s more to building a new online service than creating the functional pieces of the platform. As with everything, you must market it. In the beginning, this doesn't have to be perfect or fancy - it just needs to provide information consistent with the product itself.
Scope Creep: The Silent Killer
When it comes to product development, whether it's digital or not, there's an on-going conversation between the person behind the actual production and the person guiding the process. This is important because it helps to clarify the vision, validate the work as part of the creation process, and ensure everything stays on track. Unfortunately, it's inevitable that somewhere along the line, a request will be made that impacts the original scope. This is called "scope creep" and it needs to be managed carefully.