VNet Services
We offer the following services to our clients.
- Layout and Design - With the use of image tools, basic html code and mockup pages to help bring a project into focus. Read more...
- Agile software development - Adaptive programming for when the unexpected comes up. Read more...
- Standards & Compliance - With W3C standards, ADA 508 Compliance with backwards compatability. Read more...
- Adaptive Moble - Google mobile friendly site compliance and multiple paltform testing. Read more...
- Project Life Cycle Management - From start to finish and everything in between, we help get your project off the ground. Read more...
- Experience - Extensive resume, State and Government work, over 20+ years of experience in programming and design.
Layout and Design:
Layout is defined as the fundamental step of web design, it sets the flow of the site much like a magazine to lead the user to the product and services you want them to view. Before the real designing part is commenced, it’s always beneficial to have a rough layout describing every page of the website and their function. The web design layout serves as a probable pattern for the website that includes information about the headers, navigation, footers, sidebars, etc. Mockups are created using various tools like photoshop or other adobe products to further help in deciding what is needed to refine a project apart from the extra add-ons.
At VNet Products, we collect all the functionality requirements and then design a suitable user interface to match the functionality. We underline basic requirements such as the need of the client, the proper layout for a smooth workflow, expectations of the site from the user’s point of view and stylish appeal of the interface to the client's users. A master layout template is crafted with these factors embedded in them which will then be used by other pages in the website to keep consistency.
Agile software development
Defined as a group of software development methods in which requirements and solutions evolve through collaboration between self-organizing, cross-functional teams. It promotes adaptive planning, evolutionary development, early delivery, continuous improvement, and encourages rapid and flexible response to change.
In other words, we realize things change or that some things you forget to plan for and are realized later in the project. These complications need not halt your project or subject it to extensive reworking. We can help keep your project on track even when we hit unexpected bumps along the way.
Agile development keeps all the players in the loop. We schedule weekely progress meetings to help keep everyone informed of any changes or problems, scope and improvments.
Standards & Compliance
We adhere to World Wide Web Consortium standards and Americans with Disabilities Act compliance for many client projects. We belive that anything worth doing is worth doing right.
When Congress enacted The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in 1990, the public Internet did not exist. Due to extensive lobbying by groups representing people with disabilities, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) proposed rules mandating that all state and local government websites be accessible to those with disabilities and the DOJ is expected to do the same later in 2014 for all public websites, defining them as places of “public accommodation.” Previously the term applied only to physical spaces such as brick and mortar stores and recreational facilities.
The U.S. Dept. of Justice recently stated, “Websites that do not accommodate assistive technology can create unnecessary barriers for people with disabilities, just as buildings not designed to accommodate individuals with disabilities can prevent some individuals from entering and accessing services.
Adaptive Moble
The world is being flooded with an endless mass of mobile devices. It is a challange to keep up with as well as keeping up with the ever changing standards that those devices demand.
When we design websites or applications, we test them on various platforms to make sure they will comply with those standards and perform as expected. Not all things can be so compatable but we come pretty close depending on what the client's needs call for.
We code in many different languages and integrate each into your project so we can make sure it works the way it should. Using HTML5, Javascript, CSS3 and C# we can create the engine that runs your project and with tools like photoshop and CSS3 we can deleiver a top notch interface to go with it.
Project Life Cycle
Big projects, small projects, e-commerce projects, social media projects, EVERY web design or development project, can benefit during each phase of the project life cycle, and in some way each phase will help with the success of the project, from both the clients point of view and the developers.
There are many different phases to certain projects, and everyone involved needs to remember that every project is different. The two major key points to every project that everyone needs to remember is that no project is the same, and that every project needs to have some degree of flexibility, as everyone involved will always learn and experience things along the way that may change the project scope to some degree from it's initial concept.
Here are the phases that should be reviewed within each project life-cycle. While the order and the relevance of each phase will differ for between projects, each phase is still important.
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Analysis / Specification
This is the phase where clients and designers get to think about all the great ideas for for their project, and all the bad ideas as well. The goal for this phase is to get an general idea of what needs to be achieved with the web site.
Briefing / Quoting
This phase is where the clients talk to developers and discuss the specifications and narrow down what they really want that fits within their budget. Try and get the specifics down to as fine a detail as possible, it will only help later down the road.
Content Writing
Clients can start this phase earlier, or even later, this phase is sort of flexible to a degree, but we recommend writing the content before the design, as it just gives the designer that extra bit of information and understanding of what the client is looking for the project. It also gives them the ability to design around the content, rather then later just trying to put content into areas that have been designed with place holders. Always be flexible here, and remember that content is KING, so take your time and develop content for your audience!
Mockup & Design
This is where it can all start happening, and clients actually start to see your site come together. Make sure that all information from all parties in this phase is communicated correctly and it is also suggest giving the designer flexibility as they will probably throw something in there that will either knock your socks off, or be way off the mark, but if you don’t give them flexibility then you will never know...
Implementation
This phase will probably be the longest of the development phases, and if rushed could mean you don’t have a website/project that is expandable or useful in the long term. Make sure all goals are defined 100% at this point and the design is what ths client agrees with. It’s always harder amd more costly to go back and retro fit something than to build it right the first time around.
Content Loading
This phase as I said before can be very important to your site, content is KING after all. Content should be designed into the site and not just dropped in, and if content is provided prior to the build this should already be happening.
Testing
Test, Test, and Test again! It is always good to over test, and get additional parties to test or view from a different perspective, but remember when doing this not to stray from your original goals, ideas will be thrown up but not everything has to be done at once. It is better to have a live site that does your core goals well, than have a site in a never ending cycle of development.
Launch / Promotion
It’s launch day, everyone is stressed and wants to get the site live, don’t rush it! Make sure, if it’s replacing an old site, to go to a pre-live version first so that you can have a quick test in an "as-close-to-live" environment as you can and also just take your time. If something does go wrong, respond quickly! Even sites as big as Facebook and Twitter didn’t work perfectly when they first came out but what they did do, was grow on the feedback of their users, so listen well and respond fast!
Growth and Feed Back for Development
This comes back to what your users want and need. Listen to your users, review your stats and reports (if you don’t have any get some, Google Analytics is FREE and easy to implement) and then gradually improve your site. Not everything has to be done at once, but users will appreciate seeing your website grow!