We believe that any successful project must be based on three things :-

1. Having a full understanding of your business and its requirements.
2. Working with you: listening to your feedback and needs, guiding rather than dictating.
3. A properly staged and managed approach to the project.

We use a Case-Western/Harvard Business School inspired "Appreciative Inquiry" approach to projects and to our design of software and systems, and apply this in what we like to call a "5D" process.

Discovery

We start the project off by working with you to determine your needs. A key part of this is for us to learn from you what your business is and how it works. Once we understand these then we can determine how we can help it to benefit from our technology skills. In conjunction with yourselves we will decide the scope and depth of the project, what deliverable items there will be, and the overall timescales and costs.

Design

During the second phase, we continue the above work and turn the initial ideas into an outline design. For web sites this would be a "mock-up" of the site, for software and web-based applications this would be mock-ups of screen-layouts, walkthroughs of functionality, and any additional supporting material - for example database design and input/output formats.

Development

This stage encompasses the actual "meat" of the project. By the end of this third phase, the site or application will have been completed, tested, and documented, ready for training and then live usage.

Delivery

Delivery doesn't just mean putting the site live or dropping you off a CD with some application files. It means making sure that your staff and business understand how to work with it, for example training them in use of software, showing them how to update websites, deal with inquiries, and (if required) training you in use of site performance and usage tools. For web sites, this would also include post-go-live addition of the site to search engines, training in web-advertising, or setting up example electronic newsletters.

Direction

Once the project has been successfully completed, our immediate aim is to ask "What next?". We believe in working with our customers in a long-term manner rather than "hit and run" selling, and guiding them forward in a pro-active way. The "next steps" could encompass many different areas, for websites it may include determining when the next site revision should be, working with you on an electronic marketing plan for the site, and keeping an eye open for new technologies which we think could be integrated. For software or web application systems, this would include deciding on a review and update cycle where we can plan future changes, enhancements, and new functions, in a structured and planned way.