Wednesday, June 24, 2009

CWD commentary on strategic partnerships

This post discusses a strategic alliance between an advertising agency and a software/web development company. The web development company is very technology focused. Their strategy is based on a high level of service, customization and quality development. The advertising agency’s focus is on brand strategy and design. Their strategy is based on high design differentiation and specialized service within an ‘agency’ of service providers. The following value chain diagram represents the responsibility of each partner in the industry. Gray = advertising agency; Blue = Web Development company.


Pluses 

Minuses

- Both companies use each other as referral sources. Resulting in more predictable sales projections.
- Access to capability that either company could not maintain on their own without larger volume.
- Co marketing programs
- Augmented product/service offering- Additional value in service delivery if partnership is evolved. Results in increased profit margin.
- One company might extend special terms to help the other, for example extend A/R days. It gives you another partnership to allow you to stay afloat, but only works when the two have opposite needs. 

 

- Risk of losing the customer to the other company.
- Constraints that you would not have if you operated on your own.
- The cost of servicing a customer goes up in some cases.
- Unpredictable when the lines are blurry between the value delivery stages
Value Chain: In some cases the client values steps of the process different. Therefore, establishing $ value when you are breaking up each part of the delivery process can be tricky.
-  Life Cycle: The development company is at the end of the project process so if the project is late, they are forced into tight production time lines with little control.








The challenges here are easily overcome with clear communication and quality relationships. The necessity of these relationships is undeniable in a dynamic world such as the web. A "website" can mean a million things from a brochure ware site to a complex application. 

Read our account of a recent project launch with an agency partner. 




Don't Get Trumped By A Baby!

CWD added a new baby to the family last month. So what is the best gift a web development company can give a baby? A BABY BLOG! It started as something fun and easy to post photos for family, but I quickly realized that the blog was a hot trend in the world of new moms and dads. A lot of the blogs I started seeing have some rather innovative features (for a new born):
  • Mobile device updating using iphone, blackberry, ect.
  • Embedded video
  • Dynamic video
  • Ability to subscribe/follow the blog
  • RSS feed of new posts
  • Some rather cool design for a baby
What does this mean for your company? Well the first question is do you even have a blog? If not, you should tuck your tail and close up shop because you just got out innovated by a new born. If you have a blog, how are you using it? How often do you update it? Baby blogs get updated 2-3 times per week! Do you have some of the features listed above?

Blogging for your company is a communication tool, just like it is for a new born baby. So get started today, time is wasting.

Some screen shots from baby blogs:


Wednesday, June 17, 2009

What is a CWD Module?

A CWD module is more or less a custom-developed plugin which installs directly into our Evergreen Content Management System. Its purpose is to simplify otherwise complex website processes. Here, let's start small with a relatively straightforward example.

Consider the case of the Cascade Web Development site and how News articles are added. Before the existence of a News Module, our process would involve the following:
  • Write news article
  • Manually move all traces of the previous news article to an archive page
  • Insert new news article title and short description onto our home page
  • Create a new page just for the new news article body to live
  • Link the home page title and short description to the new news page we just created
  • Do it all again next week
A News Module takes this lengthy process and virtually automates it for you. All you have to do is drop the content in a few simple fields and click Save. The rest is handled by the module.



The beauty of modules is that they can be applied to almost every conceivable web operation. Here are just a few examples:
Still have questions about how modules can help you streamline your web management? Give us a call. We'll help you see the light!

Monday, June 15, 2009

Glen/Mar Construction Launches New Site



Hats off to another CWD client who just launched the latest version of their company website, www.glenmarconstruction.com ! Glen / Mar Construction is a SDVOSB General Construction firm providing Design/Build, Property Development, Extensive Renovations, and Construction Engineering capabilities.

The goal behind this project was to design and develop a website that was easy to navigate and presented information in a clear, straightforward manner. Check it out at GlenMarConstruction.com!

Friday, June 12, 2009

CWD partner launches new brand



CWD design and branding partner formerly known as SPDzine is now FICTION! As usual, they set and exceeded the bar for developing a concept, designing and implementing an amazing experience. Check out a few photos from their new space or visit their website (
www.thinkfiction.com) which is run on the Evergreen Content Management platform. 




FICTION is a Portland Oregon agency that tells brand stories. They are located on the first floor of the Ford Building on SE 11th ave. 

Wednesday, June 03, 2009

Web Design/Development - How We Use Wireframes

A lot of the clients we work with have never seen a wireframe before or maybe they have, but its been in an entirely different context than how we use wireframes at Cascade Web Development.

For us, wireframes serve as the visual blueprint for the initial design. Our standard wireframe will be presented in grayscale, with minimal design work. The goal here is to establish the placement of key elements on the page rather than those elements’ final presentation.

Here is an example of the initial wireframe we designed for Michigan Primary Care Association. The layout was based on conversations had with the MPCA team prior to its drafting.



Two days later we hopped on the phone and went over their likes and dislikes, things they wanted tweaked, etc. We had a few of these types of back-and-forths in the ensuing week and half, ultimately resulting in the following final wireframe:



Once we had delivered a wireframe that all parties were excited about, we passed the wireframe and corresponding Creative Request document on to our creative design team. A week later, here’s what resulted:



Two rounds of revisions later, here’s the final design!



Page through the slideshow below to see how the MPCA design evolved from conception.