project management

The Beauty of the Soft Launch 

"We need the site to launch in two months."

Dandelion with flying seedsIt's a phrase that is familiar to all Web developers. Clients have an impending deadline -- a conference, a new program launch -- and they need the site to be ready by a certain date.

It's important for Web developers to be accommodating, but we also have to be upfront and realistic about expectations. On paper, when reviewing specifications for a  site, it can seem very easy to meet that deadline. When other factors come into play, it can throw a project schedule out of whack.

  • Review and approval of the site design
  • Setting up one feature makes someone think of another cool feature
  • Testing out the site uncovers an unforeseen issue

Enter the soft launch. Ah, just the shear sound of it is music to a Web developer's ears. It takes the pressure off of trying to have a perfect site on the "big day". Instead, you can test out the site with a smaller group of users without announcing the site to the public. In fact, it's the same way we launched this, our new Data-Scribe Web site.

Here are some features and benefits of the soft launch:

How to be a good design client 

Don't worry. This isn't a snippy post with rants about problem clients. Instead, it's a review of my (Leila's) experience being on the other side of the table as a design client.

5 Phrases AEC Firms and Web Firms Hear From Clients 

AEC firms and Web firms have one main thing in common, they have to design or build something in order to please the client. The way something looks and feels is subjective, making it difficult to please everyone. As we reviewed some of the comments we've heard when building sites, we realized that A/E/C firms have heard similar ones from their clients.

1. "I really like purple. Is there a way that you could work that in?"