The Interview Worksheet is the first document that goes out to our client. It is a comprehensive questionnaire that covers an extensive range of topics including company brand, business model and vision, marketing, customer promises, value propositions, security, brand identity, technical limitations and maintenance requirements.

This document can contain over 100 questions, depending on the client's broader aims and the type of web site that they wish us to develop. Once we have analyzed and clarified any points of detail, we continue with our research, pertinent to the client's field of expertise, until we are 'expert' users within their business area. The Discovery phase ends with the delivery of a Creative Brief to the client. The Creative Brief restates the aim of the web site and sets the Barkingweb proposal for the site's conceptual design.

Developing the site structure is the domain of the Information Architect (IA). This stage of the project revolves around the 'paper layout' of the site's key elements, which consist of content, navigation and the creation of the site map and page wireframes. The crucial aim here is to provide a logical, well-planned and user centric and user friendly design. We do not lose site of the client's brief during this stage of the project but site structure is driven primarily from the users' perspective. It is crucial that the users expectations of the site are met and we aim to create a structure that is instantly familiar to any visitor; even to the extent that users can successfully predict what unvisited pages are going to look and behave like.

The challenge for the IA and designers at this point is to provide an exciting and engaging experience as well as conveying a feeling of familiarity for the user. Barkingweb uses advanced and innovative authoring techniques to deliver a comfortable user experience, whilst also stimulating the user with a range of informative options and experiences.

By this stage of the development process the terms accessibility and usability enter the equation. Creative thinking and innovation are often in conflict with ensuring that the web site is accessible to all users, whatever their choice of user interface (UI), or disability. Barkingweb ensures that creativity is not stifled by potential limits in UIs and as concepts are developed, so testing increases to cover a range of browsers and other devices that the user may employ to view the site.

Functionality and design merge to start realizing the visual and technical aspirations for the web site at this point and we are close to getting something meaningful for the client to view. We build a test site now and literally click-through the navigation, page by page, and test all of the constructs and prove the design is functional. There is yet more testing and we start to look at the content, which is the most important element in any web site, to see if it integrates well into the overall layout and design.

The build starts when we have all of the components in place and there are no more assumptions, omissions or facts to determine. The build uses all of the concepts, discovery, design, imagery and content information that has been gathered to date. Technical points, such as browser compatibility, modem and ADSL user ratios, integration of DHTML, Flash and plug-ins, video and audio are all resolved and clearly mapped before we start to construct the site. Our code is clean, simple and makes extensive use of external CSS and script files where necessary. The aim is to build the site so that it matches the design guidelines and technical specifications and so that it functions as predicted in the test site click-through.

When we get to the launch day it is always a time to celebrate but actually, launch is only another step in the process of a web site's evolution. Seeing the site 'live' on the web and receiving the first tentative feedback from the client's visitors is an exciting time. However, we are still working hard to make a transition in to the maintenance cycle of the web site. We may be providing some handoff training to some personnel within the client's organization, which facilitates the client wish to provide some, or occasionally all, of their management functions. We hold a post mortem almost immediately after launch to review the entire production process and look to learn lessons that enhance our efficiency for the future. We will be talking to the client's web development team and talking about usability monitoring and Search Engine optimization. All of this leads into the Maintenance phase of every web site that we build.

Maintenance is many things, but in a nutshell, it is the health management of a web site. Just like an annual physical or regular visits to your dentist, your web site will need a team to care for it. We will provide a style guide that is the blueprint of the site's construction protocols, code formatting, naming conventions, structure and page layouts, and other elements. We also provide a handoff pod, which is a collection of the assets and materials that were used to design, develop and construct the web site. It will contain one or more CD-ROMs or Flash drives with all of the source files, imagery, Flash .swf files, Photoshop elements, Fireworks files, html pages and templates, style guide, other files and technical specifications. The pod will be a complete web site record that is designed to enable any future development team to decode and understand fully the methodology of the web site's construction and functionality. Research into the success criteria for returning visitors to a web site regularly indicates that after high quality content, good navigation and fast download times, comes regular updates. You need maintenance to deliver consistent high quality content and regular updates, which makes maintenance an important aspect of any web site. We can help with the development of a maintenance plan for in-house management or advise on external options. The Maintenance Survey questionnaire is a document that is used as part of the initial discovery phase of the project and it is used to assist with the overall management and maintenance strategy when we get to the end of the workflow process.