The Importance of a
Collaborative Effort in Website
Development for Behaviour
Change
Daniel West
Web Developer
British Websites
An Overview
WHAT I WILL BE COVERING
• Typical project flows
• Our project flow
• The benefits of collaboration and how it is
implemented in our project flow
Waterfall Projects
SUITABLE FOR SMALL WEBSITES
Waterfall Projects
PROBLEMS TO EXPECT WITH LARGE PROJECTS
• Does not promote collaboration after
initial ‘Analysis’ stage
• Lack of flexibility after plan set out
• Testing only at the end of larger projects
can cause bigger issues than if they were
discovered & fixed earlier
Agile Projects
CAN THIS HELP US OVERCOME ISSUES?
Agile Projects
PROS & CONS
• Pros
– More collaboration
– More flexibility
– More testing
• Cons
–
–
–
–
More expensive
Lacks planning of the project as a whole, also affecting cost
Promotes incomplete planning
Collaboration still only in the analysis stage
The British Websites Flow
HOW WE APPROACH BEHAVIOUR CHANGE WEBSITES
Overall Planning And Design
Finalising
Collaborating Within The Flow
BEHAVIOUR CHANGE REQUIRES MORE COLLABORATION
1. Collaboration during consultation & project briefs
2. Increased communication between client,
designer and developer
3. The importance of data
4. Maximising testing, minimising costs
5. Consideration to potential future modifications
has not been addressed
1. The Project Brief
A MORE PERSONAL SERVICE
• Our Responsibility:
– Informing and assisting in how to create a full
plan for the website
– Refining a plan with our client
– Discussing all factors that are most important
to our client
– Prioritising work with our client
– Adjusting our involvement based on budget
2. Client, Designer and Developer
EVERYONE COLLABORATING & COMMUNICATING THROUGHOUT
• Design process
– A coder will also be involved ensuring designs
meet requirements for functionality planned
• Development process
– The client is involved much more and
requested to check certain features &
functionality ensuring they meet the
requirements before the testing stage.
3. The Importance Of Data
FOCUSING ON DATA FROM CONCEPTION TO COMPLETION
• Briefing stages – data should be addressed specifically
• Development/Coding – Required data should be
verified and tested with the client involved
• Website data requirements are different to client data
requirements
• Data collection accuracy is paramount
• Multiple methods of returning usable data to the client
& restructuring the data
4. Testing
MAXIMISING EFFECTIVENESS & MINIMISING COSTS
• Phase Testing
– Checking for fatal errors, re-testing related pages
• Final Testing
– Full functionality test with cross-browser testing
– Alpha & Beta Testing
• Involving the client in testing
• Ongoing bug reporting with feedback modules
• It is impossible to test everything 100%
5. Future Modifications
BEING FLEXIBLE
• Discussing the future during the project brief
• Feature requests added to a new brief to be
developed and quoted at a later date
• Designing with the knowledge that it may be
altered to accommodate these future requests
• Coding in a way to allow for these proposed future
modifications
• Reduces future modification costs
Conclusion
THE RESULTS
• A better understanding of each other’s
expertise & utilising them fully
• Flexibility while keeping the project as a
whole in mind
• A partnership is formed & an ongoing
relationship established
• A website built to its full potential
Questions?