APPROACH

Production Process

DSC STUDIO is commited to deliver the project with the highest possible quality, we use a simple, easily modified, but easy-to-understand process to fit every client's needs. For ease of understanding, this collaborative process is broken down into five major phases:

Planning & Research Phase
Design Phase
Implementation Phase
Evaluation Phase
Maintainence Phase

DSC STUDIO Extranet Platform

To enable cost-effective and reliable communication for every project we do, DSC STUDIO is developing an extranet platform to facilitate communication and knowledge sharing as well as tracking and managing the project with unprecedented ease. DSC STUDIO extranet can dramatically speed up the development time and reduce costs by optimizing our collaborative process.

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I. Planning & Research Phase

The first phase will greatly benefit the client by analyzing how the traditional marketing mix applies to the web strategy. Our experience in addressing all the possible issues often can lead to new insight about the company brand, its customer relationships, its positioning, web marketing strategies and the competitive landscape on the internet.

People: we will work together to analyze the visitor's objectives when viewing the site as a potential customer, an existing customer, and as a previous customer.
Positioning: your target audience is one click away from leaving your site at all times and they have the tools to compare dozens of competitors in one afternoon.
Promotion: the 2 main parts — internal & external.
- Build a "smart" web site that integrates key components to attract and keep visitors. This is achieved through search engine optimization and content development.
- Link your site from as many directions as appropriate. This is achieved through contacting search engines, building affiliate programs or leveraging your business contacts in the industry.

The deliverable for this phase is a complete strategy document outlining the ways in which the web site will meet the client's web marketing objectives. The documents of this phase may include: detailed project scope, target audience profile, creative brief, technical brief, project objectives, site architecture, etc.

II. Design Phase

There are 2 major parts of this phase: Concept Development and Creative Design.

Concept Development: user interface thumbnails, screen shots, flow chart: navigation design, and project feature list, etc.
Creative Design: project template, custom graphics, collect media files: audio and video, and project production guide: style guide, etc.

Our user interface decisions will undergo analysis from both our client's objectives and the customer's point of view. There are 3 possible views:

How do visitors experience the navigation through the front door? (from the home page)
What happens to visitors who land somewhere in the middle? (from search engines)
How can we most likely succeed in meeting our business objectives? By looking backwards from our desired transaction (contacting us) to the front door. How many clicks did it take? How accessible is it for the end user?

The deliverables for this phase will be: functional project template: One for each major screen. All media files optimized: custom graphics, audio and video. Production guide documentation: style guide.

III. Implementation Phase

Asset Development: the first stage of production begins with the creation and gathering of assets. These assets include all copy, photos, text, logos or technical data. While we can help organize the list, in this case we will rely on your team to manage the asset gathering process.

Approvals: production should offer the optimal amount of client reviews so that we can meet our launch date. We will break down the entire site into 3 different versions:

Alpha Version: contains one or a few examples of the content using our navigation scheme. The client will be able to actually click through all the pages. Placeholder copy and images may be used. Not all functionality will be present. The purpose of this review is to determine that the navigation is sound and our content truly matches our objectives. If changes are needed, this is the best opportunity to make them.
Beta Version: the review cycle will contain all screens, animations, and full functionality. The purpose of this review is to identify minor copy or legal changes. Any slight changes in timing of finesse are addressed here.
Final Version: this is the last review before launching the site.

Archive all assets: transfer files to live server from the mirror server, test the site and back up the entire site onto CD.

IV. Evaluation Phase

This is our chance to evaluate the production process. We strive to maintain the best possible project management from start to finish. This presentation will help everyone understand how to help manage content, design and business objectives, which will ensure better communication and success. Many of the production issues will return under the maintenance program. Now is the time to set best practices in place.

V. Maintainence Phase

Promotion: once the site is launched, we will outline an aggressive online promotion. We will launch a comprehensive strategy plan in many phases. In addition, we will also train the maintenance team to maintain your promotional efforts.

Maintenance: we will provide the tools and training necessary for you to maintain your site with fresh content based on the qualifications of your staff. Normally, we use off-the-shelf software to design and maintain pages in a user-friendly format. There are 3 possible options to choose from:

You receive complete documentation on how to maintain the site: server file structure, review and release process, page construction overview, site-wide structure overview with reference code on where the information is located, content update tutorial, web site style & dimensions guideline, quality assurance standard, template components documentation, along with the project back-up, source files, or any other associated documentation.
Content Management System: we can either create or recommend software that enables you to add and/or manipulate content on a web site. Typically, a CMS consists of two elements: the content management application (CMA) and the content delivery application (CDA). The CMA element allows the content manager or author, who may not know HTML, to manage the creation, modification, and removal of content from a web site without needing the expertise of a webmaster. The CDA element uses and compiles that information to update the web site. The features of a CMS system vary, but most include web-based publishing, format management, revision control, indexing, search, and retrieval.
Provide a maintenance plan where we update the site for you.