The XI Experience

Most web companies have either a rigid process or no process at all. Either one can be successful depending on things like the complexity of the project, the experience of the vendor team, and the experience of the vendor and client working together.

Many companies flaunt their process like it is THE BEST process and therefore it is THE ANSWER and makes them the best player in the market. Well, it might be and it might not be. Its just not that simple. You can have a great process and not get that needed "clicK" with the client.

At XI, we totally believe in process - but ours is fluid. We are committed to continually shaping and perfecting it, but our process isn't about our process - it's about looking you in the eye and listening to you.... its about finding out how we can serve you the best.... how we can use our experience and expertise to better your experience. We've been around long enough to say, that every one of our clients is an original. Your company is an original and your are an original, so you deserve to be treated like we have never worked with anyone like you before. Our process as good as it is, is not a one-size fits all process - it is all about looking for the original in you and finding a way to tell that story on your web site. You are different, and we want to help you tell the world.

Discovery

The discovery phase of a project needs to be as thorough as possible. It is the most critical phase of the project - if Discovery goes well, then the whole project will, but if Discovery is rushed and incomplete then likewise the whole project will be poorly planned and suffer many weaknesses. This is a good time to have patience and discipline as we work through the details of your project and try to get inside the mindshare of the intellectual assets on your team.

1. We listen to you
   1. What is your reason for this project?
   2. How will your success or failure be measured?
   3. Who are the stakeholders?
   4. What intellectual assets and mindshares in your organization should share in this process?
   5. What are some of your experiences in past projects? Successes and failures?
   6. What is the story you want your web site to tell? If your visitors will walk away with only one message, what will it be?
2. We often conduct market research
   1. What design elements are needed in this market?
   2. What S.E.O. measures needed to be taken
   3. What are your competitors doing in this market space?
   4. What can we learn from your customers and/or potential customers?
   5. What market experts in your company have valuable insight that should be considered?
3. We gather all necessary site assets that we can at this point (content, photos, logo and other artwork, corporate collateral, etc)
4. We produce design and development strategies from this discovery. When everyone is agreed that we have the plan we need, then we move forward.

Design

1. The design process will work from documents and strategies produced in discovery.
2. The design process can commence as soon as discovery is complete and the content is fairly well developed.
3. The design is not about the design, its about how to tell your story by featuring your content well... and its about the experience the visitor has with your story.
4. We generally start with color swatches and move toward home page comps. Everything else comes after that.

Development

• Every XI web site includes S.E.O. (Search Engine Optimization) features
• Every XI project uses industry standard technolgies and platforms such as PHP, Cold Fusion, Oracle, MySQL, Flash, CSS, .....
• We believe code should be cross-browser compatible and not just coded for one browser because it is the most popular. We test on Firefox, Safari, Windows and Macintosh, and other platforms and browsers.... not just Internet Explorer on Windows.

Quality Assurance and User Acceptance

• The new web site is in place on a development server ahead of launch.
• Thorough QA of the site is completed on this server before launch. This allows you to focus on the new content that will launch with the new site. All updates can be reviewed and approved as needed.
• This developement server allows the client to put the site through various levels of User Acceptance with different internal departments, offices, and decidion-makers through all stages of development up to launch.

Go-Live / Implementation

• Strategies are developed well in advance of go-live to make the cut-over smooth and emminently successful.
• Sufficient backup strategies are put in place for each critical juncture.
• The Go-live plan is executed as planned
• Our contracts specify a warranty period for any defects and for a high-availability period in which we are standing by to address any further post-launch needs that you have.

Its not enough to have a truly great process, you have to have great people working that process.