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Any products - Back-end Web Design processes?

by qu4rk
11 replies
I've got a few products for front-end web design stuff that talk about sales & client acquisition. I've got sales coming in, but it's very dis-organized & disorderly getting my stuff designed and to the client.

I'm looking for a book, course, etc. that lays out the best practices of how you want to handle the design process from start to finish. I figured I could either make up the process through trial & error or just pay for it somewhere.

Any help would be appreciated.
#backend #design #processes #products #web
  • Profile picture of the author iAmNameLess
    Originally Posted by qu4rk View Post

    I've got a few products for front-end web design stuff that talk about sales & client acquisition. I've got sales coming in, but it's very dis-organized & disorderly getting my stuff designed and to the client.

    I'm looking for a book, course, etc. that lays out the best practices of how you want to handle the design process from start to finish. I figured I could either make up the process through trial & error or just pay for it somewhere.

    Any help would be appreciated.
    Well what's your existing process?

    I'm sure we can help you here without you needing to buy some course.
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    • Profile picture of the author qu4rk
      Originally Posted by iAmNameLess View Post

      Well what's your existing process?

      I'm sure we can help you here without you needing to buy some course.
      Hey bro. I bought your WSO. First non-software WSO I bought...EVER. And, it's money. I'm glad I made that purchase.

      My process is all jacked up man. It's not really my process with the client. That is pretty straight forward.

      I have one guy doing my design & it takes us lots of back & forth to get a site done. Now that I have clients coming in, I'm trying to stream line our internal process before it gets busy. This will become a serious bottle neck for me.

      I'm looking to see, how do you guys handle internally the design process from start to finish. There are all kinds of problems that crop up.

      I've been doing that all day, so my brain kind of hurts. Let me know if I'm not properly explaining what I'm looking for.
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      • Profile picture of the author iAmNameLess
        Originally Posted by qu4rk View Post

        Hey bro. I bought your WSO. First non-software WSO I bought...EVER. And, it's money. I'm glad I made that purchase.

        My process is all jacked up man. It's not really my process with the client. That is pretty straight forward.

        I have one guy doing my design & it takes us lots of back & forth to get a site done. Now that I have clients coming in, I'm trying to stream line our internal process before it gets busy. This will become a serious bottle neck for me.

        I'm looking to see, how do you guys handle internally the design process from start to finish. There are all kinds of problems that crop up.

        I've been doing that all day, so my brain kind of hurts. Let me know if I'm not properly explaining what I'm looking for.
        Hey Thanks for checking it out, glad it's helped!

        When you say you have one guy doing your design, are you saying that you're handling the sales, support, and project management, while you have one guy that's actually designing the website?

        Are you using any kind of project management software?
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        • Profile picture of the author qu4rk
          Originally Posted by iAmNameLess View Post

          Hey Thanks for checking it out, glad it's helped!

          When you say you have one guy doing your design, are you saying that you're handling the sales, support, and project management, while you have one guy that's actually designing the website?

          Are you using any kind of project management software?
          Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying. We're using Freedcamp to manage the projects.

          I'm a sales guy by trade, and have very little design experience. So the design goes something like this.

          Me: Here are 3 sites they like. Use these with their logo & make a site.
          Him: Ok here you go.
          Me: We need to change this & this before we can present to client.
          Him: Here are the changes.
          Me: Oh, this needs to change & that.
          Him: Here are the changes.
          Me: Oh yeah & this that too.
          Him: Here are the changes.

          I totally get the problem is me, not him. That's why I'm looking to solve the problem of me.

          If I could get all the changes needed in one swoop, then this would save a tremendous amount of time.

          Maybe if I could get my hands on a checklist of items to check off for myself & if they are missing, then I can simply check them off.

          I don't know. What do you guys think?
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          • Profile picture of the author iAmNameLess
            Originally Posted by qu4rk View Post

            Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying. We're using Freedcamp to manage the projects.

            I'm a sales guy by trade, and have very little design experience. So the design goes something like this.

            Me: Here are 3 sites they like. Use these with their logo & make a site.
            Him: Ok here you go.
            Me: We need to change this & this before we can present to client.
            Him: Here are the changes.
            Me: Oh, this needs to change & that.
            Him: Here are the changes.
            Me: Oh yeah & this that too.
            Him: Here are the changes.

            I totally get the problem is me, not him. That's why I'm looking to solve the problem of me.

            If I could get all the changes needed in one swoop, then this would save a tremendous amount of time.

            Maybe if I could get my hands on a checklist of items to check off for myself & if they are missing, then I can simply check them off.

            I don't know. What do you guys think?
            Well that's kind of normal... but what do you find that you often have to have him change? Is there some sort of pattern that you have or something you often ask your designer to change project to project? Is it the client that asks for these changes or is it a note you took and forgot to implement?

            I think you also may have some problems with the project management software you're using. I used freedcamp before and liked it enough, but it really isn't as efficient as it should be. Personally, I'm a big fan of TeamworkPM and I think that would help you out slightly.

            Another tip, based on my experience is to never have a designer handle an entire project by themselves.

            Handling a project:
            There's you... you're the boss, support, sales, and project manager... Are you outsourcing or is the designer an actual employee? You eventually want to have someone act as the project manager.

            What I do... is have someone that's working on the site, adding in the content, creating menus, pages...another person handling different CSS modifications and sometimes on page optimization, while having someone else work on graphic related tasks.

            That way you have 2-3 people working on one project, it allows faster turnaround time and they are actually more productive because they're moving around from one project to another.

            May be worth trying it out and seeing how that works for you.

            Also... you should be adding those tasks in your project management platform. My goal when adding tasks is to bury my workers. I want each detail listed as a task. Be very specific. You shouldn't be sending these tasks in an email or over skype.
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          • Profile picture of the author savidge4
            It sounds to me like there is a bit of a communication gap there. Do this with their logos... oh no change this.. oh and change that... oh and tweek this... Maybe some more direct communication up front and that all can be avoided... just maybe adding the designer in on a conference call with the client when these aspects are being discussed?

            I personally have all of my staff in one location. I have a white board that is broken into sections theme, logo, navigation, layout, image, content, etc. There is a sticky note that references any notes of interest. I also have a back office data base that holds further details, that can be accessed by one and all. We try to follow the line in order... so once the theme is loaded, that sticky note is removed. Once the logo is ready that sticky note is removed, etc etc.

            It is a visual to the status of each and every job. It allows ME, to get those notes in so there is no, Oh this needs to be fixed, and oh we forgot about that. Once the "Complete" sticky tab is removed, I do a once over on the site with the initial work order and details and ensure its all there and right, and out it goes.

            Communication above all else is the salvation or detriment in multi user work environments.

            Originally Posted by qu4rk View Post

            Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying. We're using Freedcamp to manage the projects.

            I'm a sales guy by trade, and have very little design experience. So the design goes something like this.

            Me: Here are 3 sites they like. Use these with their logo & make a site.
            Him: Ok here you go.
            Me: We need to change this & this before we can present to client.
            Him: Here are the changes.
            Me: Oh, this needs to change & that.
            Him: Here are the changes.
            Me: Oh yeah & this that too.
            Him: Here are the changes.

            I totally get the problem is me, not him. That's why I'm looking to solve the problem of me.

            If I could get all the changes needed in one swoop, then this would save a tremendous amount of time.

            Maybe if I could get my hands on a checklist of items to check off for myself & if they are missing, then I can simply check them off.

            I don't know. What do you guys think?
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  • Profile picture of the author pappy
    I've been doing this for 34 years, its called project management. You have to designate someone as a project manager and let them create a dependent flowchart for each detailed project tying into the overall project. Not complicated but VERY detailed oriented. Basically it will keep you on task and your team will not get sidetracked and wasting time.

    Think about it this way, you cannot create a software application without laying out the database first.

    Same goes for your sites. Identify the grunt work, then lay everything else out. Lay the ground work and build on that.

    If you need help, I'll be glad to help you however I can...

    Note: You need a pm who can identify what your teams strengths are. Delegation is a BIG part of pm. Assignments are critical for your team and the timely development of a project.

    Create a realistic timeline and stick to it. And it doesn't matter if your resources for creating a project are in house or not, you need one person in your organization to take the pm role.

    And one last sidebar..... Once you have your process in place, use it as a template for any future work.

    Pappy
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    • Profile picture of the author qu4rk
      Originally Posted by iAmNameLess View Post

      Well that's kind of normal... but what do you find that you often have to have him change? Is there some sort of pattern that you have or something you often ask your designer to change project to project? Is it the client that asks for these changes or is it a note you took and forgot to implement?
      A lot of it is to get things to a point to present to the client. I haven't noticed a pattern, because I've just been trying to trudge through it. I will start taking notes.

      Originally Posted by iAmNameLess View Post

      I think you also may have some problems with the project management software you're using. I used freedcamp before and liked it enough, but it really isn't as efficient as it should be. Personally, I'm a big fan of TeamworkPM and I think that would help you out slightly.
      I'm going to check into it.


      Originally Posted by savidge4 View Post

      Communication above all else is the salvation or detriment in multi user work environments.
      Yes...and it's my communication that is the problem. I'm trying to remedy this ASAP.

      Originally Posted by pappy View Post

      And one last sidebar..... Once you have your process in place, use it as a template for any future work.
      So, then, I'm actually looking for a template of web design projects.

      *****

      pappy, iAmNameLess, savidge4...all the 3 of you have done an excellent job at painting the picture of what my true problem is. I want to thank you all.

      My problem is that I don't have a project manager & I don't have it being build assembly line style. Therefore, I'm asking the designer to use too much discretion & I have no process for them to follow.

      Now, I don't currently have the funds to pay a project manager, but that is something that is on my outsource list.

      Where do you guys think is the best place to find a frame work to write a process for designing sites? As I mentioned above, I'm looking for a template or framework of the way that agencies do it (I'm sure there are many ways).

      I know if I do this trial & error, it's going to take me a lot of time, which is a bottle neck.
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      • Profile picture of the author savidge4
        Originally Posted by qu4rk View Post

        My problem is that I don't have a project manager & I don't have it being build assembly line style. Therefore, I'm asking the designer to use too much discretion & I have no process for them to follow.

        Now, I don't currently have the funds to pay a project manager, but that is something that is on my outsource list.

        Where do you guys think is the best place to find a frame work to write a process for designing sites? As I mentioned above, I'm looking for a template or framework of the way that agencies do it (I'm sure there are many ways).

        I know if I do this trial & error, it's going to take me a lot of time, which is a bottle neck.
        No offense here... you have a project manager and its YOU. The actual dust being shuffled under the carpet here Is more in the sales end, than the production end. to tell a designer something like, and I quote "Here are 3 sites they like. Use these with their logo & make a site." is just short of insanity THIS is the issue.

        My personal sales system.... I use a total of 3 themes. I use the Virtue theme, I use Mystile ( that I have 4 layouts styles for ) and then there is the theme / frame work that I have created that has 4 layout styles as well. In my selling I have narrowed down the options to ONE of these... not... well they like these, add a logo and go.

        here is something to think about in YOUR process. YOU are out selling ( communicating with the client ), and the other side is production. Think of your production guy / gal as a "Coder" and NOT a "designer" They have more than proven based on what you are saying on this thread, they are very good at following directions... why not simply give them specific direction.

        I need this layout
        I need these colors
        I need this logo here
        I need these pages
        I need these forms
        I need this this and that

        Call me when you are done.

        You DONT need a PM right now, To be honest if you brought one into the current mix, things would only get worse. You need to get your head out of the sand and provide your production team the SPECIFIC direction the project needs to move towards. They CANT read your mind, or the mind of the client. THATS YOUR JOB!

        You actually have a JEM of a partner right now. They do what they are TOLD! to be honest, that doesn't happen very often.
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        • Profile picture of the author savidge4
          An added thought to this... again communication. why not ask your Coder what they would need to complete a job. build the system backwards from completion to pitching.

          The job is done
          all function aspects are complete
          All design aspects are complete
          Pages are filled
          Navigation page creation
          site structure complete
          Start Production
          Artwork is signed off
          Design is signed off
          design choice is made
          **** below this is the selling aspect

          Originally Posted by savidge4 View Post

          No offense here... you have a project manager and its YOU. The actual dust being shuffled under the carpet here Is more in the sales end, than the production end. to tell a designer something like, and I quote "Here are 3 sites they like. Use these with their logo & make a site." is just short of insanity THIS is the issue.

          My personal sales system.... I use a total of 3 themes. I use the Virtue theme, I use Mystile ( that I have 4 layouts styles for ) and then there is the theme / frame work that I have created that has 4 layout styles as well. In my selling I have narrowed down the options to ONE of these... not... well they like these, add a logo and go.

          here is something to think about in YOUR process. YOU are out selling ( communicating with the client ), and the other side is production. Think of your production guy / gal as a "Coder" and NOT a "designer" They have more than proven based on what you are saying on this thread, they are very good at following directions... why not simply give them specific direction.

          I need this layout
          I need these colors
          I need this logo here
          I need these pages
          I need these forms
          I need this this and that

          Call me when you are done.

          You DONT need a PM right now, To be honest if you brought one into the current mix, things would only get worse. You need to get your head out of the sand and provide your production team the SPECIFIC direction the project needs to move towards. They CANT read your mind, or the mind of the client. THATS YOUR JOB!

          You actually have a JEM of a partner right now. They do what they are TOLD! to be honest, that doesn't happen very often.
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          • Profile picture of the author qu4rk
            Thanks Savidge, I needed a good smack on the head. You've given me some things to use this as my skeleton framework. I'm starting that not now, but RIGHT NOW!
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