Our development process may have multiple levels and a plethora of technical jargon, but the framework comes down to our use of the Agile Methodology. Like fitting many different puzzle pieces together, we transform business problems into solutions by efficiently creating a complete end product.

Our process begins simply. Based on active client communication, we discover problems, needs and a clear end goal for the specific project. We then analyze the client requests, and present several solutions. After confirmation from the client, we build requirements for the project, and produce concept designs (i.e. mocks, wireframes). Once these are approved, we build.

Our Agile building process is equally organized with the same goal in mind; build a complete solution. We set milestones, called iterations, where we break down the work into bite-sized pieces, test it, and give it life online.

For example, you are a photographer who wants to sell your work online. You already have a website, but do not have the tools that enable a user to make a purchase. We find a solution, break it down, and fulfill your request. Iterations: 1) capability to upload photos, 2) management tool for photos, 3) building payment gateway, 4) building shopping cart.

And your new website capabilities are born! Website development may be complicated, but with Agile, involving our clients doesn’t have to be. Check out our portfolio, and see what solutions we can provide you!

This has helped substantially within our Interactive Branding efforts for The Schools. With the umbrella structure, each school’s site contributes to the overall link building and brand growth. The corporate Paul Mitchell Schools site reinforces each individual school’s web ranking, and vice versa. As a result, the ranking of Paul Mitchell Schools increased four-fold.

We have also helped contribute to marketing efforts for Paul Mitchell Schools through Search Engine Marketing (SEM). This consists of creating paid advertisements, based extensive research of the top keywords. We then bid on the highest ranking keywords to provide the best converting user traffic to their website.

We have also offered social media webinars to help each school increase brand awareness and become more connected to potential students and additional resources to aid in overall growth. Our webinars teach each school how to set up, monitor and manage social media pages. For Paul Mitchell Schools as well as all of our clients, our goal is to make web management and communication as simple as possible, without neglecting pertinent resources.

In line with our goals at Blind Acre, we have committed to continually updating and fine tuning information flow for various media. As with Paul Mitchell, we want to ensure that you are always in touch with your potential clients, and they can reach you with ease.

A semantic approach:

<h1>My Page Title</h1>

The h1 tag identifies this element as a top-level header, but does not dictate how headers should be displayed (font size, color, etc.). The presentation rules can then be controlled in a linked stylesheet instead of inside the HTML.

A presentational approach:

<font size="24" color="black">My Page Title</font>

The font tag dictates how the element should be displayed, but does not identify what part of the document the element is (a header, a subheader, a paragraph, etc.). If we want to change the way headers are displayed, we need to change the font attributes for every header on every page of the site.

Keep in mind, however, that writing semantic HTML means more than just moving presentation to CSS. Consider the following:

<div class="header">My Page Title</div>

This approach lets us separate content from presentation, since we can control the .header style in CSS; but it’s less useful to any software that might make use of the document, since the software would be more likely to look for a primary header in a standard h1 element than a div.header element.

Benefits of Semantic HTML

• Semantic markup makes it easier to control layouts. Presentational rules can be delegated to linked stylesheets, minimizing the need to modify the documents themselves.
• It promotes interoperability. Semantic markup allows programs to share, analyze, and process documents more effectively. Modern web developers need to be concerned with more than how the pages look in a browser. We need to consider how well spiders, aggregators, and other applications can make use of our content.
• Semantic markup is good for SEO. Content in an h1 element provides a hint about the document’s primary topic, which can help search engines determine how it should be categorized.

The Microformats web site provides useful information about semantic HTML and a list of semantic elements.

1.) Create a Clear and Convincing Business Case:
Before starting your next development project make sure you do a thorough analysis of what business problem your new technology will be solving.  Get the ideas out to real customers to gauge their feedback prior to starting development.  Proper planning will allow you to set priorities once you start writing code.

2.) Create an Approval Process For Deliverables:
By establishing a consistent approval process for all proposed work (wireframes, user stories, and other functional requirements), you will save a vast amount of time and frustration.  You wont find yourself rolling huge iterations back because something was not considered in the planning process.

3.) Properly Define Scope Objectives:
You will also benefit from clear definition of scope and objectives, even though details are allowed to emerge throughout the development process.

4.) Create Realistic and Aggressive Expectations:
If the relationship between the web project owner and the web developer is a client/contractor relationship, both sides have to come to an agreement on budget and time constraints.  While it’s hard to avoid long nights at the end of any enterprise development project, it is possible to improve your ability to hedge against large setbacks.  Encourage short and regular iterations, developing the software and delivering a working product in small chunks.

5.) Establish an Accountability Plan and Product Owners:
Each project will most likely have several key product owners that need to be in place as key stake holders in the project from the client’s side.  This accountability team will act as Subject Matter Experts, lending their opinions and knowledge in the planning and building phases to ensure that all of the business dependencies have been thought through.  In most cases these key stake holders will also be in charge of signing off and approving on the deliverable scope items.  Their active participation in the project is vital.

Even with these 5 steps in place, it’s still possible to have mistakes along the way.  A common way of how things can still get off track is that there is not enough collaboration between project owner and the development team.  Even when you have an accountability plan in place, key stakeholders may be a reason for confusion and mistakes within a project.  One of the reasons product owners are unclear in traditional projects is because they are asked, often times too early into the project, for far more details than they can handle which results in them not being able to visualize an adequate solution.  You can help alleviate this by encouraging ideas from key stake holders.  Discussing each deliverable in depth will feel redundant but can uncover critical oversights sooner rather than later.

As you implement these 5 steps you will be able to continually refine your processes, and the efficiency within each project will continue to increase.