We’re a bunch of “NIRDS” at heart. NIRDS on a mission. Our approach is built on a partnership mindset and knows that if we don’t think long-term together, we’ll probably end up with many short-term failures. We’re big on rapid iteration, working on the same team, but also being accountable to the great-cause goals and success factors that are the foundation of our relationship .
Let’s walk through our process together.
Needs Assessment & Strategy
“a great starting point for strategic planning”
We may have a single project in mind as we get started in our partnership together, but the least we can do is understand how that project fits into an overall strategy that is aware of trends and empowered by long-term thinking.
The full Needs Assessment we conduct results in a Web Strategy Score taking into account ten key areas of online opportunity. It’s a great starting point for strategic planning looking at least six months and at most two years out.
Now we have a roadmap that we can all stand behind and to which we can keep each other inspired and accountable over the long haul.
Idea Management
“…we put all the ideas on the table and… the best ones rise to the top”
We’re confident in what we’re doing thanks to our investment in long-term planning. In this phase we put all the ideas on the table and take measures to make sure the best ones rise to the top.
Through rapid prototyping, hands-on jam sessions and other high-collaboration activities, we separate the wheat from the chaff and achieve buy-in of key stakeholders and community members.
A focus on idea management ensures we’re ready to spend the effort to create highly tuned designs based on quick sketches, diagrams and wireframes vetted in this phase.
Refinement & Prototyping
“Prototypes are the perfect middle ground between idea and implementation.”
It’s takes lots of time and money to create finished products. Prototypes, however, are the perfect middle ground between idea and implementation.
This phase turns ideas into reality without bringing us to a point of no return in our approach. In this phase we uncover flaws in our planning, get valuable feedback from real users in hands-on usability sessions and refine the winning ideas to the point they are ready for final development and implementation.
The finished prototypes make sure we get the idea right before final execution–not just in the what and why, but also in the how.
Development & Testing
“All of us are excited to be involved in this easy-to-follow process”
Working in an Agile process, we take the wonderful amount of polished concepts and create a firm schedule of implementation.
Building on user stories and test cases written during previous phases, we build out features in two-week sprints, working toward a release cycle that keeps our eyes on the prize. All of us–client stakeholders, HiDeffers and community members–are excited to be involved in this easy-to-follow process with clear responsibilities for each team member.
A final release sprint clears our solution for takeoff, whether it is a mobile app, social application or website.
Strategy & Needs Assessment
“assess performance… and get ready to tackle the next release cycle”
We’re full circle now. We’ve built and deployed something great. Taking a step back to take stock of our handwork and pull out the long-term roadmap, we assess our performance together, adjust the roadmap, then get ready to tackle the next release cycle.
This phase is pivotal because we take into account the changing online landscape, unique opportunities that have come up throughout the previous release cycle, and feedback we’ve gleaned from our users and other stakeholders.
In this phase, we conduct a needs assessment again and then launch refreshed and confident into designing and developing another round of solutions.