A presentation at twiist.be in in Leuven, Belgium by Drew McLellan
10 COST EFFECTIVE WEB DEVELOPMENT TECHNIQUES
OR: HOW CAN I MAKE THE BEST USE OF LIMITED DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT BUDGETS IN THESE INCREASINGLY CHALLENGING ECONOMIC TIMES?
I’M DREW MCLELLAN EDGEOFMYSEAT.COM ~ @DREWM I HELP PEOPLE BUILD THINGS ON THE WEB
SOMEWHERE OUT THERE LIES A WORLD OF
LIMITLESS
BUDGETS
WHEN BUDGETS ARE TIGHT EVERYONE
WORKS
HARDER
FA S T E R CHEAPER BETTER STRONGER WITH FEWER RESOURCES AVAILABLE
SOME TECHNIQUES ARE TECHNICAL BUT MANY ARE ABOUT WORKFLOW
HERE’S THE TIPS PRESENTED IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER
1 WRITE A COMPREHENSIVE SPECIFICATION FOR YOUR PROJECT
A GOOD SPEC DOES TWO THINGS LIMITS SCOPE
ENABLES EFFICIENCY
&
THE EASIEST PLACE TO CONTROL COS T S
DESCRIBE HOW THE SITE WORKS
FROM THE USER’S PERSPECTIVE NOT HOW IT’S IMPLEMENTED
CHANGES ARE CHEAP TO M A K E ON PA P E R
ENABLES EFFICIENCY! DEVELOPMENT
2 EVALUATE POSSIBLE EXISTING SOLUTIONS
DON’T REINVENT
THE WHEEL
EVALUATE AGAINST
YOUR (NOW SOLID) SPECIFICATION
CONSIDER COMPROMISES: WHERE DOES COST MATTER
MORE
THAN FEATURES?
USE EXISTING CODE AND BUILD 1 0% ON TOP
1 0 0%
FROM NOTHING
3 CONSIDER THE COST OF YOUR DESIGN CHOICES
TO U G H BUT NOT IMPOS SIBLE
IT JUST TAKES TIME
CONSIDER THE DEVELOPMENT
IMPLICATIONS OF EVERY SINGLE DESIGN CHOICE
4 MAKE SURE YOUR DESIGN COVERS ALL STATES THE USER ENCOUNTERS
GOING
BACK & FORTH
COSTS TIME
&
&
&
&
MAKE SURE EVERYTHING IN THE SPEC IS
DESIGNED
5 DESIGN FOR REUSABILITY
BUILD A TOOLKIT OF REUSABLE COMPONENTS
DESIGN TO A GRID
EVERY UNIQUE ELEMENT IS A SOURCE OF COST
6 REMEMBER: BROADBAND IS NOT A SILVER BULLET
DESIGNING FOR BROADBAND PUTS
EXTRA LOAD ON YOUR SERVERS
RUNNING COSTS
JUST BECAUSE IT’S DIGITAL DOESN’T MEAN IT’S
FREE
7 PREPARE YOUR DESIGN FILES READY TO SEND ACROSS TO YOUR DEVELOPER
MAKE IT EASY FOR YOUR DEVELOPER
MISTAKES
GOING BACK AND FORTH COSTS TIME
NAME AND GROUP
PROVIDE FLAT VERSIONS OF EACH STATE FOR REFERENCE
HAND OVER A COLOUR GUIDE
EXPLAIN YOUR GRID
8 BUILD YOUR SITE FOR CHEAP MAINTENANCE
ONCE A SITE IS BUILT IT HAS TO BE MAINTAINED
CONTENT CHANGES STRUCTURE CHANGES USEAGE CHANGES
DESIGN & BUILD FOR FLEXIBILITY
DON’T DESIGN
EACH SECTION
CONSIDER HOW EACH ELEMENT RESPONDS TO CHANGE AND THE TIME IT WILL TAKE TO ADAPT IT
9 BUILD YOUR SITE FOR LOW COST QUALITY ASSURANCE (THAT’S TESTING!)
EVERY ELEMENT OF A SITE NEEDS TO BE TESTED
PLATFORMS
LOGGED IN
JAVASCRIPT ON OR OFF
FLASH
INSTALLED OR NOT
THERE ARE TWO OUTCOMES: TESTING GETS EXPENSIVE
CONSIDER THE TESTING OVERHEAD OF EVERYTHING YOU ADD
10 BUILD ON THE SHOULDERS OF GIANTS USE EXISTING APIS OUTSOURCE AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE
THE WEB IS A COLLECTION OF SMALL PIECES LOOSELY JOINED
BE A SMALL PIECE
AMAZON S3 FEEDBURNER YOUTUBE / VIMEO FLICKR GOOGLE MAPS YAHOO! SEARCH
APIS
THE BEST WAY TO SAVE MONEY LET SOMEONE ELSE SPEND THEIRS
THANK YOU ANY QUESTIONS?
SLIDES ALLINTHEHEAD.COM/PRESENTATIONS FOLLOW ME: @DREWM
10 simple technical and workflow-based tips for reducing web design and development project costs.
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