Have — and use — a methodology!
January 15th, 2010 § 1 Comment
“How can we go forward when we don’t know which way we’re facing?” — John Lennon
When it comes to website development, I’m frequently asked the question “How much will it cost to build me a website?” And without meaning to be flip, I usually respond, “Well, how much have you got?”
The point is, building a website, or any other digital marketing program for that matter, requires discipline. And the best way to ensure discipline from the very initial stage of the project is to use a methodology. Having a specified methodological approach ensure the program is built to scale, developed in a timely and cots-efficient manner, and that the end result melds the strategic requirement with the tactical outcome.
Methodologies come in all shapes and sizes. So it’s important to examine yours, or the one your developer uses, and consider its own scope and scale. Does it take a comprehensive approach, starting from establishing what your own business objectives are, to completing the development cycle by addressing the post-project environment.
Here’s our methodology, which we use to develop and build our client’s digital marketing programs. It begins with the Discovery phase, which we believe is critical; getting a clear understanding of the goals and benchmarks specific to the project. This is done before we ever start designing, programming, or building, and establishes the metrics we will use to define the success of the project once it’s completed.
Methodologies are no cure-all for making a project or program successful, but they certainly provide a device for increasing the opportunity for success and make the project management function proceed smoothly and efficiently.
I agree 100%. In my 16 years of experience of managing software development projects, I have come to know that without a clearly written plan that matches the customer’s objectives there is a high probability that the end result won’t match expectations making the final product not successful.