Methods of working

Getting a digital solution off the ground is a multi-step process that involves active collaboration between various teams. This document aims to provide an overview of the tasks involved and details what goes into developing a solution. During the engagement, I end up accumulating (and delivering) the following documents and assets:

Project brief - created from our initial meetings, conversations and helps design the initial scope of work.

Statement of work - this document becomes a contract and describes the rules of engagement. It is intended to be enforceable by law and lists all the details of what is being built as well as:

• Project objectives

• High-level scope

• Agreed KPIs

• Team roles and responsibilities

• Client RACI (stakeholder) matrix

• Milestones and timetable

• Risk factors and mitigation

• Escalation points

• Warranty Sign-off processes

• Budget, costing and payment schedules

Experience design approach - this document is a narration of the product strategy and formalises the project vision. Detailing the research and theory of why we’re building what we’re building. A project of any scale should not begin without the right level of planning and strategy. This document makes sure our approach is understood, and nothing is lost in translation. Items include:

• Project hypothesis

• Usability review

• Data Analysis

  • Web Analytics

  • Expert Interviews

  • Surveys

• Behavioural analytics

• Task Analysis (Jobs to be done)

• Content Audits

• Information Architecture (site-map)

• User Testing Plans

UX assets - when we talk about UX assets, we mean elements that define how the product should function. The data we collect provides the foundation for behavioural archetypes, experience maps and depending on the size of the project, the following items:

• User Flows

• Content Flow

• Wireframes (template definition)

• Cross-channel user management

• Pattern Library

• Component functionality

• Basic functional prototype

UI assets - when we talk about UI assets, we mean elements of how the product should look, feel and interact. Depending on the size of the project the following items are usually created:

• Component UI design

• Interaction documentation and visuals

• Tone of voice documentation

• Digital guidelines

• High-fidelity functional prototype

Solution architecture document - this is a technical requirements document that defines the platform, its architecture and the functionality of what is to be built. It serves an essential role in communicating with stakeholders, engineers and ensuring successful outcomes. Documentation requirements differ based on the technology and methodology used to complete the project and other factors, but it will usually cover these areas:

• Solution Overview

  • Business Case

• Feature Backlog

• Technical Solution

  • Logical architecture Diagram

  • Architecture Principles

  • Physical Architecture

  • Environment development

  • Legacy system management

• Software selection

  • CMS Solution

  • Platform Choice

• Integration

• Technical Risks

Non-Functional Requirement documentation - this document specifies the criteria for the operation of a system. It typically details:

• Accessibility

• Browser and device support

• Backup and recovery

• Platform maintenance

• Performance expectations

• Platform availability

• Deployability processes

• Security measures

• Monitoring support structures

• Law Compliance

• SEO

• Operations and business as usual training

QA strategy - this document describes all activities and collaboration procedures that are required to execute the project successfully within its constraints and ensures expected quality.

Content migration plan - this is a more detailed document that lists the mapping of content architecture and taxonomy to the new platform.

Client project team

To help us during this process, we would need the following client stakeholders available during the project:

Role	Responsibilities
Project Owner	Owns feature backlog from client POV and participates in sprint planning and holds the client project team accountable. Identifies essential journeys, target customers, validates intent, requirement design and final sign-off. Collaborates with client subject matter experts (eg. Analytics, SEO, Sales)
Project Manager	Key agency point of contact. Runs weekly/daily project meetings, status tracking, track and explicit dependency liaison. In charge of making sure tasks are assigned to the right people, resources are allocated and ensures everything is run smoothly.
Tech Lead	Involved in the holistic design and directly responsible for helping refine the design. Ensures the implementation meets the business needs while minimising future maintenance effort.
Content Owner	Owning the site tone of voice and content principles. Upholding the strategic purpose and how it meets business goals and user needs. Managing fact-checking, or approval processes with subject matter experts.
Commercial/Marketing business owner	Upholding the commercial/marketing strategy for the company and how it meets business goals and user needs.

Agency project delivery team

Our deployment and engagement methodology differs from project to project. But usually comprised of members from the Client services, Project Management, Design, User Experience, Business Analysis, Data Science, Software Development, Content Management and Quality Assurance teams.

Role	Responsibilities
Client/Business Sponsor	The sponsor is accountable for ensuring that the work is governed effectively and delivers the objectives that meet the identified needs.
Account Lead	They lead the overall team towards delivery of client business goals. Responsible for ultimate delivery quality and business results. Client advocate and ultimate liaison.
Project Manager	Key agency point of contact. Runs weekly/daily project meetings, status tracking, track and explicit dependency liaison. In charge of making sure tasks are assigned to the right people, resources are allocated and ensures everything is run smoothly.
Technical programme Manager	Responsible for the technical delivery of the whole project. Coordination of the programme’s resources as well as their inter-dependencies.
Creative Director	Responsible for managing and conceptualising creative output, including staff supervision and production. Core responsibility is to determine the best way to represent an idea and produce high-level concepts across every touchpoint.
UX Designer	Responsible for the creation of the overall user experience by exploring many different approaches to solve end-users’ problems.
UI Designer	Responsible for designing the presentation and interactivity of a product.
Content Strategist	Owning the site tone of voice and content principles. Upholding the strategic purpose and how it meets business goals and user needs. Managing fact-checking, or approval processes with subject matter experts.
Technical Business Analyst	Responsible for authoring the solution design and specification Identifying and working with stakeholders to define and document project scope Ensures that the business needs are adequately analysed and reflected Ensures all communication is unambiguous and timely
Solution Architect	Responsible for Solution Architecture Document Designs technical solution and application architecture, in line with known requirements and expected interfaces with other systems Alignment between different technologies, identification of functional dependencies
Technical Lead	Responsible for the overall planning, execution and success of the solution Leads the development team to deliver the solution Responsible for all technical decisions, estimates, risks, internal consistency Provides professional consultancy internally and externally
Optimisation Lead	Manage the overall performance of the live solution Review data to identify and realise performance improvements Create and tune data models to optimise performance
QA Lead	Write test plans and test scripts Execute test cases and qualify bugs Manage external test feedback Manage bug and enhancement reviews

Project track

Project tracks are planned in a way that reflects an Agile delivery approach, an example of a plan we expect to follow, looks something like this:

Post-launch Optimisation

Once we deliver the final build, we don't just wash our hands of the project. What we suggest to most of our clients is our site monitoring and optimisation package so we can support you going forward. Our packages usually include:

Site Monitoring - we create quarterly reports that are tracked against business goals (KPIs). The purpose of these reports is to provide actionable data and insights to help the business make key changes and adjustments.

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) - with access to your Google Analytics platform we can monitor performance and action insights. Our goal is to optimise content and increase site traffic.

Behavioural Tagging - based on an agreed set of KPIs we can tag your digital channels to track user behaviour. This will help us Identify barriers to completion and journey pain points. The goal is to see what we can do to improve visitor retention rate and favourable user sentiment.

A/B and Multi-variant testing - with data and insights gained from the business and our Site Monitoring, we can suggest content approaches and test against multiple hypotheses. The goal would be to determine which layouts, call-to-actions and design elements are most compelling to different user groups.

Content Strategy - using a combination of social listening, industry trend knowledge and SEO, we will be able to provide recommendations on how messaging and content could be improved and see whether the topics you're talking about are resonating with your audience.