No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Demo / Download

Get the Emotioned Theme for free

Cost: Free

Version: 1.0

Columns: 3

Widgets supported: yes

Super cool:  yes

Grab it here and enjoy!

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Now don’t expect to pick up a book and follow a methodology word-by-word. Web site development mythologies are relatively new and the project manager will need to adapt, adopt and invent their own way in relation to the projects environment and client. All sounds easy when a methodology is read. But, below are examples of some things that typically go wrong:

• Requirements change, this can be due to client changing their mind or the actual business requirements changes.
• The requirements have been interpreted differently between the client and the development team
• There was a simple underestimation of work required to complete the project
• Client lost interest or had to shift focus onto something else.

Regardless of the reason, the end result was the same: projects that go over-time go over-budget unless the client is willing to pay more. Each late project will also impact team moral and upcoming projects, chance of having these problems can be reduced by executing actions in the following order:

• Initiation
• Requirement Analysis
• Content development
• Design
• Development
• Launch
• Post-launch

Initiation

Before starting a journey you must not only know your destination, but also how you are getting there. This is where the project is defined, the key tool here is a creative brief. It is the document to go back to if you have questions about the goals or requirements of the project

Once a creative brief of the project is signed off and agreed the project can progress into the requirements analysis stage.

Requirements Analysis

Requirements analysis for a website? Bah, go ahead and laugh! So many web projects in the real world skip this stage only for it to come back and bite them in the behind, I’ve been bitten enough times to say that this stage is not worth skipping anymore.

Client: Can we make the site look a little more web 2.0?

You: I’ll add a shiney button

Client: OK!

Would you build a house on sand only to keep filling up every crack would form? No, that’s the same reason why I would not suggest doing the same when building a site by skipping the requirements stage. There is more of a chance of target market analysis applied to copywriting and SEO than there are web site requirements used for guidelines, user and functional testing and making sure business objectives have been met. It’s difficult to convert traffic to sales when even you haven’t figured what a web site is expected to do.

On the other hand, writing documentation , test plans, test cases and tons of hours functional testing is slow process of thinking, planning and visualizing details before any code or design starts adding up. Website projects don’t usually budget enough time for complete and comprehensive testing. You must be able to test a site quickly and constructively in order to provide value to the project.

First: define the business requirements:

I usually start with a “Parent” requirement, “What is the objective of the this website?”. An example might be an Indoor rock climbing wall ecommerce site that wants to promote the wall and activities around it.

Our Parent Business Requirements are:

BR1. Provide information about the company

BR2. Sell climbing merchandise

BR3. Promote Climbing
Other possible business requirements might be “upcoming events”, “provide services”, “get sales leads” and “To inform on [insert topic]”.

Next, place details under each BR (Business Requirement).

BR1. Provide information on our company BR1.0 About the Wall

BR1.0.1 Provide staff bios

BR1.0.2 Provide information on other services used

BR1.0.2.1 Provide information on Gym

BR1.0.2.2 Provide information on Electronic Lockers

BR1.1 Blog

BR1.3 [insert and list the ways you plan to provide information; i.e. testimonials, blog comments, forums, product reviews, press releases, contact page etc.]

This encourages everyone involved in the project to step up and ask questions regarding goals and objectives, as well as determining how to achieve these goals. Once I determine that I need a panoramic 360 degree shot of the climbing wall, someone else can take the lead on researching and recording the requirements for it. Should the panoramic 360 degree shot be Flash or Javascript based? Should it be built in-house? Each of these questions may evolve themselves into a potential system requirement.

BR1. Sell climbing merchandise

BR1.0 Add shopping cart

BR1.1 Marketing (SEO)

BR1.2 [i.e. user generated content, social media, weekly sales, coupons, online accounts, etc.]

Other Types of Requirements

Other requirements might be:

User Interface Requirements (UIR) – I usually use a wireframe to illustrate these pages.

Functional Requirements (FR) – This is where servers, databases, programming language and error message procedures are made

Search Engine Requirements (SER) – There are endless resources online

Search Engine Marketing

Organic Search Engine Optimization

Social Media

Usability Requirement – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pas_78

Content Development

Is it really possible to demand all content before the site is designed? In my experience it’s not, at least not when I did not have an established working relationship with the client. That is why I usually run the content development and design stages in parallel. When a contract is signed before the client handed over the majority of the content I was eaten up by administration costs trying to fix the changes that later incurred (which should typically take up about 10% of the workflow if managed right).

Content development is probably the riskiest stage, mainly because content resides on the client side. I usually make sure there is a clause in the contract protecting me from delays.

Design

I like to divide the design stage into two sections; Site Information and Interface Design. At this stage it is encouraged to make any changes necessary and get them approved by the client, any changes made after this stage could be time consuming.

Information Architecture

Information Architecture can be considered as the “Blueprint” for the information structure of a website. It defines the website’s page hierarchy, structure and navigation. I usually create a lo-fi prototype in illustrator to illustrate this stage. Read more about Web Information Architecture Deliverables and Diagrams http://www.fatpurple.com/2010/03/01/web-information-architecture-deliverables-and-diagrams/

Visual Design

Once the Information Architecture is approved it is possible to progress to the visual design using the wireframes defined the Requirements Analysis stage. It’s really important to get the design approved before starting the next stage. It’s much easier to do rework in Photoshop than in HTML, so it really saves time to make sure that the development stage just involves building out the site and no designing ‘on-the-fly’.

Development

This stage is about building the generic site template and the detail pages. At this stage I prefer to make template quality checks before propagating the code through the whole site. It’s usual to expect some design changes, some times these can cause delays.

And of course, the template and site in general would need to go through a content quality assurance check.

Launch

In practice, this stage is very simple. I usually run down to the closest bottle shop and get some of their best Champaign. I usually avoid launching on Fridays because I cherish my weekends.

Post Launch

Once the site is live, I set up a maintenance plan with the client. I’ll then do an internal project performance summery among our team, and later on with the client.

It’s really important to do these, so that you can learn from things that went well and things that didn’t.

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Wisdom is in the trees and not the glass windows

- Jack Johnson

Humans… It’s in our nature to relapse, build and get stronger; we cannot go through life living stage-by-stage in a linear fashion and expect to be happy, after all we live on a finite planet that keeps throwing new challenges at us. Some challenges are worth taking, some aren’t … When in doubt about a challenge and feel like the walls are closing in on you it’s your queue to move onto something that can make you happier. For me,  I’ve always thought about packing up and vagabonding my way across the big ball, when I was young I used to day dream about stuffing some belongings in a cloth that is tied to a stick and be off… this is it, I’ve finally quit my off-the-shelf lifestyle to see more of the world and it’s all by choice and very spontaneous planning.

“I don’t have money to travel”… my 2 cents: you don’t need it! no, really, and I cannot wait to prove it! A little restructuring  life can go a long way, for example I’ve decided to stop spending money on all unessential commodities and start focusing on learning new things. It’s easier said then done, a lot of people happily spend all their money and even go into debt for luxuries each week.

Travel Resources:

Most of these resources where suggested by Tomas, an Argentinian guy who I had the privilege of hosting through couchsurfing. He has been travelling on shoe-string for around 3 years now and has a lot to show for it!

Couchsurfing is a great way to travel on a shoestring, mainly because:

• Accommodation is free
• You’re seeing the area from the eyes of a local and know the best/cheapest places to eat
• You’re meeting new people and intimately learning things about their way of living
• You’re making new friends all the time

Some other sites are:

Volunteering:

http://www.wwoof.org (different fees in each country)  - Organization assisting those who would like to work as volunteers on organic farms internationally. Program highlights and contact information.

http://www.helpx.net (membership €20/year) - volunteer work in exchange for free accommodation and food on farms, backpacker hostels, lodges, horse stables and even sailing boats.

http://workaway.info (membership €15/year) - Workaway.info is a site set up to promote fair work exchange between budget travellers, language learners or culture seekers and families, individuals or organizations who are looking for help with a range of varied and interesting activities.

http://www.idealist.org - A “global clearinghouse of nonprofit and volunteering resources”, offering a directory of volunteer opportunities and other resources

http://www.truetravellers.org - Includes an active forum, information on destinations, and contact information for charitable organizations.

http://ecoclub.com/jobs (membership €25/year) - ECOCLUB.com Members can access information on worldwide ecotourism jobs, including full-time & part-time vacancies and  paid internships in the fields of  Ecotourism, Responsible Tourism, Sustainable Tourism, Community Tourism, Wildlife Tourism, Adventure Travel, Wildlife Conservation, Field Biology, Environmental Management and International Development. The job opportunities in our system change every working day throughout the day. Access vacancies, have your CV evaluated & promoted, network with others and much more

http://www.the7interchange.com - ’SE7EN host projects’ provide free and low-cost volunteer opportunities at schools, orphanages, wildlife reserves, natural parks, sustainable living initiatives etc – projects with a social or environmental goal who could use some help.

http://www.ecovillage.org/php/public/evdir/evsearch.php?lg=1(Search Ecovillages) - he Global Ecovillage Network is a global confederation of people and communities that meet and share their ideas, exchange technologies, develop cultural and educational exchanges, directories and newsletters, …

http://www.bugday.org/tatuta/index.php?lang=EN (organic Farms Turkey €25/year) - With the Ekolojik TaTuTa system The Bugday Association for Supporting Ecological Living is the official member of ECEAT for Turkey, as well as the national
WWOOF organization of Turkey

Cyclists Hospitality:

http://www.warmshowers.org - Warmshowers.org is a site for reciprocal hospitality for touring bicyclists.

Volunteer tour guides:

http://www.hieverywhere.com - is a volunteer tour guide exchange community worldwide.

Hitchhiking:

http://www.hitchwiki.org – you can guess this one by yourselves

http://www.digihitch.com - Original stories, travel tips and road culture for hitch-hikers, backpackers and modern nomads. Featuring highway routes, road maps, safety/ legal advice, photos, rideboard and vagabonding advice for cheap travel in the USA, Europe, and around the world.

http://hitchbase.com - Hitchbase.com is your information source for finding best local hitching spots.

Car Sharing:

http://www.hitchhikers.org Hitchhikers.org (Europe)

http://www.viajamosjuntos.com Viajamos juntos (Spain)

http://www.taxistop.be Taxistop (Belgium)

http://www.prevoz.org Prevoz (Slovenia)

Jobs:

https://www.odesk.com (Freelance online jobs) -oDesk is a global service marketplace for small and medium sized business to hire,manage, and pay remote freelancers or teams. Submit a free job posting and hire from over 25000 top professionals.

Flights (Aggregators):

http://www.checkfelix.com - Checkfelix is the world’s favorite flight search engine. offers discount airfares and cheap flights worlwide from 250+ Travel websites with multiday and closest airport search features

http://www.oneworld.com - A unique, flexible, great value round-the-world fare – the obvious choice if you want to explore Australia where you can include up to 4 sectors. You can choose to travel in economy, business or even first class, with travel available on alloneworld® carriers. Unlike other round-the-world fares, oneworld Explorer’s price is based on the number of continents you visit, not the mileage you fly, making planning and pricing your journey much more simple and flexible.

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Summer Freedom 2010 from Ian Cremona on Vimeo.

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

1) Dismantled and de-nailed pallets, sawed them to size and sorted out the wood

2) Assembled the shelves using dowels and wood glue

3) Left the glue to dry for 3 hours

4) Attached the legs (again, with dowels and glue)

…Voila

Total cost : An upcycled piece of very solid furniture for less than $10!

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Over the past week the Chili production team has been working meticulously for the WPT Marrakesh event which will start on the 12th of October.  . At least those are the titles we go by, the line that divides our job roles is often very hazy. We have lots of skill! The WPT Marrakesh Live is a good example of our recent work. Here is how it is broken down: The Twitter Tracker – Follow all WPT Tweets This module scans the Internet searching twitter feeds related to the WPT event live! It is set to refresh instantly, so you know you’ve got the latest news as it happens. The Blog Tracker - Follow all WPT posts This part of the page will keep you updated with Benjamin, Olivier, Romain, Sébastien, Simon and Will’s impressions up until the 18th of October, which feeds directly from http://wpt.chiliblog.com/, Featured Hand – in detail Here’s a comprehensive view of the featured hand, which is updated frequently WPT Radio Clubpoker – hear WPT Marrakesh Get first hand experience in hearing the event live Chipcounts – Top 10 A frequently updated chart with the top 10 players Photo Coverage – Our Archive We’ve set up a flexible system that can cater for the staff, bloggers and journalists as the event plays along Video Coverage – Best Moments Captured in Motion This corner captures the memorable moments on video brought to you by madinpoker.com

Any comments or suggestions? We’d love to hear them.

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.