Tom Nixon

The disciplines required on a successful web team

Some time ago, Jesse James Garrett (a much revered hero of new media) produced his second most famous diagram, illustrating the nine pillars of successful web teams. In other words the skills you need to get the job done.

One of the things that I love about this diagram is that it highlights an important gap that causes so many web projects to stall horribly or just end up with a third rate results. That gap is content - both the strategy (deciding what should go on the site) and production (writing the copy; sourcing the photos etc.) These two disciplines take up a big old chunk of the diagram but all too often they fall down the gap between the client and the web agency, because often clients think they can do this bit themselves ("how hard can it by to write the text for some web pages?") And then, inveitably, the agency waits and waits and waits for third rate content to actually arrive.

So the lesson here is to treat the content side of your web project as seriously as the bits you already know are important like understanding your users; graphic design; programming and all the rest of it. And if you're not an expert then get some help with it (exception: if you're writing a blog then just go for it!)
As an aside, this is why I think it was great to see our friends Spannerworks hire Anthony Mayfield - someone who just 'gets it' (and will proudly show you his mention in The Guardian to prove it :-)

There has been a recent revival of the 'content is king' mantra that had become so very old fashioned. This time it's more interesting though, with user-generated content; syndication and aggregation all being added into the content mix. This is why it's so important to get some help from the experts when you're planning the content aspects of your website.

But anyway, getting back to the original subject, here's my own take on the disciplines required on a successful web team, building on Jesse's work:

• Business / marketing  strategy to define the business problems that the site hopes to address.
• User research to understand the people who will use the site and what they want.
• Site strategy to define the specific things that the website will do.
• Content strategy to decide what to say.
• Content production to write the words and source the images.
• Abstract design to architect a blueprint for the site.
• Graphic design to make everything look great.
• Technical design to plan how the software elements of the site will work.
• Coding to actually build the site.
• Search engine marketing to ensure the site will be found.
• Quality assurance to test the site and ensure everything works as it's supposed to.
• Project management to get the job done on time and budget.
• The users who can no longer be thought of as just an 'audience' of the website, but people who will contribute to it.

As Jesse pointed out in his original essay on this, it's perfectly acceptable to have  people on the team who cover more than one discpline.

A better alternative to tendering for web projects

Following on from my rant ‘F*** tendering’, here’s a more reliable, easier and quicker way to find the right supplier, and get your web project moving.

Step 1: Don’t ‘brief’. Set the scene.
Avoid the temptation to describe what you think your needs are in the form of a brief. Instead, explain your underlying business / marketing problems and objectives. This might be things like increasing sales leads or communicating better. Also include the story so far of how you got to where you are now and why you are now looking for a web agency. This document doesn’t specify what you are expecting in the end product, but it sets the scene for a conversation that will lead you there. It keeps all options open and will encourage creativity.

Step 2: Short-list some agencies
There are lots of web agencies about. Get a short-list together by finding out who produced some websites that you like; asking business associates and friends for recommendations; or contacting industry bodies like Wired Sussex. Read the agency’s websites to get a feel for the companies and send your Setting The Scene document to any agencies that you like the look of. Talk through the document with them on the phone and allow them to give you some background information about their agency. Based on this phone call you should be able to whittle your list of agencies down to a handful that you’d like to take the conversation further with. If you’re not sure about who to short-list, invite them to pitch their credentials to you (just a half-hour meeting without talking in detail about the project) and always, always follow up the client references that you are given.

Step 3: Meet with your short-listed agencies… and offer to pay
This is the time to get stuck into the requirements for the project. By doing this in conjunction with the agencies, you’ll generate better, more creative ideas. You can share your own ideas that you have and start working towards a description of the project.

You should offer to pay for the agency’s time from this step onwards, even if they don’t ask. It will probably only cost you a few hundred pounds but it will win you enormous respect from the agencies and you will get better results. Even though the agencies know you’re talking to several competitors, they will put in a great deal of effort because they are being paid for their time, and of course because they want to win you over. Agree with the agencies that since you are paying for their time you have the right to use any ideas generated even if you don’t engage them for the rest of the project.

By getting the agencies involved at this early stage, you will find that there is more variation in what they offer, which makes your job of selecting one agency easier. Pay close attention to how they approach your requirements at this stage. Do they begin by discussing things like your underlying business issues and target audience (correct), or do they start with creative design ideas or technology (wrong)? Make sure they justify themselves to you.

Because you are getting stuck into the project already, you’re finding out much more about the agency than you could do through a sales meeting or a pitch presentation.

Step 4: Work towards a quote for the next step in the project
By this stage you should have been able to whittle down your short-list to a couple of agencies. Or maybe you already have a favourite. The next step is to continue the conversation with the agencies and work towards a ‘big picture’ approach and rough project plan for the work. Additionally, you should ask for a quote for a bite-sized next step which would allow you to keep the project moving without having to commit to the supplier for the entire project. The agency will be happy to be paid for their time, and you’ll be able to keep your project moving without taking on much risk.

A good first step could be to audit your current website, or to produce a site architecture diagram (or sitemap) which shows the website structure in terms of site areas, key pages and process diagrams for interactive elements. Or if the requirements are still not quite certain, it could be a piece of research to get some answers. Either way, the objective here is to make a priority of moving the actual project forward, whilst in the background you are critically evaluating the agencies.

Step 5: Commit, if the time's right
If you’ve got this far, the chances are that you have found the right agency to do the job. Because you will have already been working with them on the project, there is far less uncertainty and risk involved in continuing with them for the rest of the project. It’s unlikely that a smooth talking agency who can do a great pitch but can’t follow up with quality work will have got this far, and because you have focussed on getting started rather than wasting time writing a brief and waiting for agencies to respond to it, you’ll be further ahead than you would have been with a tendering approach.

So if you’ve got a web project in mind, start a conversation with some web agencies today and get your project moving. You’ve got nothing to lose.

Have you had good or bad experiences selecting web agencies or tendering for projects? I’d love to hear from you. Please add your comments below or email me.

F*** tendering

Preamble: I originally wrote this post as a calm, collected and rational explanation. But Will correctly pointed out that what I should have written is what I really think. So here goes...

I have had it with responding to tenders for clients who would like a website. I'm not so arrogant to ever tell someone who's interested in my company's services to "f*** off", and I absolutly love having converations with people about how I can help them to get more out of the web. But the more time I spend working in this industry, the clearer it has become that tendering is a waste of time for both client and supplier and it's a rubbish way of finding the best supplier for a particular job.

What I’m talking about here are situations where a client writes a brief for a website project, then various agencies ‘pitch’ their offer to the client, without being paid for their time. For many clients, this is their default way of engaging a web agency. Here's why I think it sucks (and yes, there will be a follow-up post on this blog about a better alternative to tendering):

1.    Us web agencies know that the odds are weighted against us in tendering situations. So if we’re getting enough good business knocking at our door, why would we bother spending time (for free) replying to your tender? Even if you're the most interesting client with the most exciting project, the fact that you want us to get stuck into a (boring) tendering process is an immediate turn-off. For the client this means that they may have ruled out their ideal supplier before they’ve even started.

2.   Tendering puts too much emphasis on price. That’s fine if you’re buying a commodity, but website development is more complicated than that. The agency who will ultimately give you the best value for money and return on investment may actually pitch a lower cost solution just so they can win the business.

3.    Most clients expect to see some early stage designs in the pitch, perhaps showing how navigation will work or some graphic design concepts. The problem with this is that you can’t produce a decent design until you’ve completed the necessary background work – understanding the business requirements, target audience, competitors, and other factors that feed into the design. Sure, you can produce something that the client will ‘like the look of’, but without the groundwork in place the designs will be based on too many assumptions to be an effective final design.

4.    The skills required for successful pitching are different to the skills required to actually carry out the work. It’s the same logic as job interviews being a poor predictor of how someone will perform at work. The agency best placed to successfully carry out the project might not be the best at 'pitching' this fact to you. And don’t forget that some agencies employ pitch specialists who are great salesmen, but will have nothing to do with the work.

5.    The time taken to write the brief, wait for the agencies to write their response and then get through the pitches and follow-up questions is all time that could be spent actually working on the project itself.

6.    You get what you pay for, and if you are expecting the agencies to work on the tender for free, then the amount of time that they spend on it will be proportional. You might think that the pitch missed the mark, but given a real budget, the agency’s work might be fantastic. You will learn very little from these pitches.

7.    The pitching process relies on agencies being given a detailed brief that they can respond to. If you are outsourcing the work, then the chances are that you are not qualified to write the brief (sorry!). You can describe what you think you need, but it’s the agencies who are best placed to help you to understand your requirements. But agencies are less likely to challenge you on your brief if they know that there’s a handful of competitors who will just give you what you have asked for.

In my next post I will explain a better way to find the right web agency (and it won't necessarily lead you to my company, in case you're wondering if this is a cynical attempt at selling to you!)