1. Brief and understanding
All projects start with a design brief. Depending on the project, there may be a full specification to work from, or Naked Creativity will work with the client to compile a specification for their website.
The client will also meet with the members of the Naked Creativity team who will be responsible for the project and be given a single point-of-contact with whom they can raise any questions throughout the website development process.
At this point of the project, it is also extremely useful for the client to give an indication of the content that would be on the website as well as any images or other media. This helps to kick-start the design process, providing the basis of the concept designs.
It is beneficial for the client to give an indication of the content that will be on their website.
2. Concept Designs and Search Engine Optimisation
Allowing visitors to find the information they are after is crucial to a good website experience. Information architecture starts with the analysis of current and proposed content, and the design of organisation, labeling and navigation systems to allow users to easily find the information they are seeking.
Wireframing, a fast method of sketching out pages and the interactions that take place within them, is then undertaken. Depending on the scale of the project, these are either presented as block diagrams for discussion with clients, or incorporated within the visual design concepts of how the website will look.
Another consideration is search engines such as Google and Bing. Search engine optimisation (SEO) looks to increase the traffic arriving at a website from search engines and if undertaken early in a project, SEO can have substantial benefits to website traffic. Incoming links are also important as search engines place an emphasis on these, so, if relevant, a summary report of where any existing links are coming from, and how many links any competitors may have can be complied by Naked Creativity.
Initial wire frames are quickly put together to illustrate to the client the proposed design direction for their website.
3. Development
This step is made up of two parts – front-end and back-end. Front-end development refers to the creation of HTML, CSS and Javascript code, whereas back-end development refers to the programming that runs on the server to allow integration with databases, a content management system, or other bespoke functionality.
Websites developed by Naked Creativity are always standards compliant and built to the latest website design best practice. This ensures that the site is accessible and usable, an aspect that is also reinforced by usability testing which can be undertaken internally at Naked Creativity or at the client's premises.
The front end development stage also includes adding all of the content to the website, and creating the relevant pages. Naked Creativity use the list of SEO target keywords produced earlier in the process to write unique page titles and descriptions, and to suggest other improvements to content that can improve the search engine ranking of your website.
4. Content Management
Customers often require a content management system (CMS), the purpose of which is to allow website owners to add, edit and remove content from their website. The Naked Creativity CMS (NCMS) allows rich editing of pages, including drag and drop reordering of items on the page, editing of text, uploading and resizing of images, and much more. It also allows the integration of bespoke elements – allowing Naked Creativity to make even the most complex design editable, or to embed content from other systems.
In very bespoke cases, a system will be developed purely for the purpose of that website. This is usually the case in situations where the website is completely dynamic – meaning that pages are generated ‘on-the-fly’ in response to a search, filter or input by the user. Websites such as Facebook are an excellent, if extreme, example of a dynamic site – as it is completely user-generated content.
As seen above, the Naked Creativity CMS allows rich editing of pages, the drag and drop function allowing the content to be easily moved around.
5. User testing
In addition to regular reviews and testing during the design and development process, Naked Creativity conduct rigorous testing prior to the launch of the website.
This testing includes checks that the functionality meets the specification, that the websites works as expected in target browsers and that any feedback given to the user such as error messages are clear, understandable and visible.
Clients are, of course, highly involved in all stages of the project, not least during testing. Any final client feedback is addressed at this stage, with the website available for them to view and test during the whole development process.
6. Review and launch
Prior to launch, Naked Creativity redirect pages from any existing website to the corresponding page on the new website. This avoids any ‘Page not found’ errors, and helps to maintain the search engine ranking attained by the original website.
Following final client approval, the website is launched.
Naked Creativity frequently host client websites and can register domain names if required.
