What we do
Your business has needs. Your product catalog is constantly changing, and reprints are costing you a fortune. You want to reach potential new customers outside your regional area. You have to introduce your distributors to a new product line, get them exited about the new product's potential, and give them updated promotional materials.
Miller Interactive Media can help. We call our approach Define Design Develop. We didn't invent it; we simply refined time-tested project management practices, and added a mnemonic, alliterative name. Read on to learn about our approach, or browse the project list on the left for examples of our results.
Define
The single most common mistake made in project work is jumping straight into “how” without clearly defining “what”. Few project outcomes are more frustrating than a brilliant solution to the wrong problem. To avoid this pitfall, MIM begins each project by working with our client to develop a Project Definition document.
The Project Definition describes the current situation, the desired outcome, and any specific requirements or constraints in clear, unambiguous terms. It is serves as the “measuring stick” for evaluation of solution ideas proposed during the design process. In more complex scenarios, analysis and documentation of existing business processes may be necessary, however most web projects have fairly common requirements that can be easily detailed.
Design
Given a Project Definition and any supporting analysis documentation, there are often several ways to structure and implement a solution that works. The Design process is the translation from “what” to “how”, and is where technical knowledge and creativity deliver their biggest benefits. Client input is critical to revision and refinement of the design, so frequent and regular communication is the norm during this process. The result of the Design process is the Design Document, which serves as the blueprint for development.
The Design Document for interactive projects includes a functional specification and visual design description. The functional spec is often presented as a flowchart or decision tree, whereas the visual design may involve interface layouts, interaction states, color palettes, font samples, graphic treatments, and possibly interactive prototypes. For data intensive projects, the Design Document will also include a data and relation specification, normally in the form of an Entity-Relationship diagram.
Develop
The development process transforms ideas into something tangible. Development costs are expensive, so extensive revisions during development can be a financial disaster. The detailed planning during the Define and Design stages pays off here. This is the “quiet” process, where we keep our noses to the monitors and our fingers to the keyboards. The result: an on-target, cost effective solution!
