TriangleParkCreative

Website design for a better world

Y ou know you

need a new

website. You may

or may not know what

the website should

say, what it should let

users do, how it should

integrate with your

in-office technology and

staff work requirements,

or how it should be

organized.

Triangle Park Creative’s

web development process

meets you where you are

and helps explore the right

questions before we start

building. So that’s how we can

build a site that meets your

needs and creates opportunities for the future.

The up-front work Site discovery is perhaps the most crucial though

least visible part of the process. During discovery,

we meet with your stakeholders to gather input

in order to develop an understanding of both

your organization and what your site can do for it.

We then formulate our understanding into a

draft site map, which is revised until it accurately

illustrates the flow of

information that will

meet the needs we have

identified.

Once that site map is done,

the site content is gathered

or created to fulfill the site

map. We can work

with you to develop

your content if you

prefer. It’s important

to create the site

content at this point

because it’s a reality

check on the structure

— it may have

seemed like a good

idea to have seven

pages in one section,

but when it comes time to write the copy, maybe

only five are really needed.

With the site map and content in hand, we create

a “wireframe” for the site, which gives an even

better idea of what the pages will be like. The

wireframe is a chance to explore the information

flow of the pages and spot areas that need

additional elements in order to be as usable as

possible.

Your website houses your brand.

Give it a good home. Plan well.

Some examples of things a site can do for your community:

• register people for events (paid or free)

• take donations

• allow for social networking among members

• register volunteers

• play video or audio files

• provide directories of locations or services, with Google maps to each

• allow for timely event calendars that automatically unlist events when they are completed

• list news and press releases, with an automatically generated archive

• display photo galleries

• include blogs or discussion forums

site map wireframe (one page from the document) finished homepage

Once the wireframe is completed, our

interface designers apply what we’ve

learned about you to make the site look

like home. Then, our in-house develop-

ment team begins the work of bringing it

all to life on the world wide web.

How our websites workWe build sites that meet current web

standards, based in an open source content

management system called Drupal.

Why should you care about web

standards? Well, generally, you don’t have

to, because we take care of that. But what

it gets you is a site that is fast, search-

engine-friendly, more accessible, and

more likely to be compatible with future

web browsers and technologies. Not to

mention usable on the increasing number

of smart phones and PDAs your users are

likely to have.

Using a content management system

such as Drupal allows you to easily publish,

manage and organize a wide variety of

content without the need for any special

software—just access to the Internet

and a web browser. An international

community of expert individuals and

organizations has been actively and

continuously developing Drupal for

over seven years, and it has become the

web platform of choice for an increasing

number of major publications and

institutions worldwide.

Best of all, Drupal is open source, which

means that you’re not tied to a particular

developer or set of proprietary tools.

Want to know more about Drupal or web

standards? Ask us, we’re experts.

Our web process

1

2

36

5

4 Site discoveryYOU: Fill out client survey

YOU: Create a list of peer sites

ALL: Meet with key stakeholders to define your site’s goals

ALL: Identify the functions and features needed to meet the site goals

ALL: Identify the user permissions needed on the site

TPC: Make a project plan with timeframe and milestones

TPC: Make an initial site map

ALL: Check in to make sure the site is still within the original estimate, or adjust as needed; create Phase 2 list as needed

2–6 weeks

Site structure YOU: Gather and create content (We can take on this role if you prefer)

TPC: Based on content, create wireframes for key pages

ALL: Revise content and wireframes as needed to incorporate new information (often an iterative process where content affects wireframe, affects content, affects wireframe, and so on )

TPC: Revise site map as necessary based on additional discovery during wireframe and content creation process

ALL: Check in to make sure the site is still within the original estimate, or adjust as needed; create Phase 2 list as needed

2–6 weeks

Interface designTPC: Design an interface for the site and primary pages, based on the wireframes

YOU: Provide feedback on interface designs

TPC: Revise interface based on feedback

2–4 weeks

Site developmentALL: Agree on hosting solution

TPC: Install the Drupal content management system and core modules that fulfill the functions and features requirements

TPC: Load content to primary pages provided during wireframe process

TPC: Convert interface design to web graphics, xHTML and cascading style sheets; debug and test in all browsers

3–4 weeks

Training, testing and revision TPC: Create user manual and other needed documentation

TPC: Teach 2–4 core staff people how to use the new website

YOU: Create user accounts for staff members as needed

YOU: Explore the new site as you add to and revise the site’s content

TPC: Support your core staff as they add content

TPC: Make minor interface and functionality revisions as requested by core staff

2–6 weeks

Launch and post launchYOU: Approve the site for launch

TPC: Take the site live in one to three days, depending on hosting provisions

TPC: Provide up to three hours of support per month for the first 3 months for 1 or 2 key staff members

Total website process: 12–26 weeksIn our experience, this range tends to correlate to the size of the site, the complexity of the decision-making process in the organization, and how much time the organization has devoted to developing its content before the process starts.

Triangle Park Creative 2600 East Franklin Avenue

Minneapolis, MN 55406

612-692-8560

www.TriangleParkCreative.com

Home sweet website

At Triangle Park, we believe building a website

is like building a home: it takes careful planning

and expertise to create one you can love and

want to show off.

First, we partner with you to carry out a detailed

information gathering process so your whole

website is housed within a solidly engineered

and elegantly functioning structure—one that is

accessible and surpasses industry standards. That

way, you can easily do any expanding, remodeling or

updating called for in the future.

A website, like a home, should be a place that

offers security, comfort, spaces where you can get

things done, up-to-date technology, and finally, a

welcoming atmosphere where you are proud to

invite others.