Customer Gives Feedback - Its "Banging"

This is feedback we've just received from a customer who has just seen the first live preview of his new site. We make a point of working closely with our customers to make sure we give them a site that not only does what they want it to do but that it also gives the visual style they were hoping for.

To be honest, we feel that if we don't exceeed that expectation then we are somehow failing, however that's another story, back to the tale in hand!

We liaise closely with all of our customers when we are doing a new web site for them and there are key stages and a one singularly tense moment (for us) along the way.

Customer Focussed

The earliest stage of building a new web site for a customer is quite "busy" as we ask a lot of questions to find out what the customer is looking for. This covers two main things;

Not only do I want my web site to do everything I want from it but it has to look good too!

These are, first of all that the web site does everything that they want from it. That can be anything from a simple contact form, to a photo gallery, to e-commerce, to an online booking system; whatever the customer wants!

The second imortant aspect is that it has to be visually appealing and welcoming. The fundamental reason for this is to *snap*, to make the first link with a visitor to the site, to get them to think "wow, this looks good!". The "scaffolding" for that is our design skills and tech. knowledge combining with the customer's own branding focus.

First Live Preview

At this stage development has moved on to our private servers, away from prying eyes but somewhere our customers can access when the time is right.

So, that brings us to the ♬ ..drum..roll.. ♪ ..tense moment!

At the beginning, things appear a bit hectic, we gather the information we need, etc., and then it seems to go quiet! Its not quiet of course, it is the busiest time for us as we feverishly work away writing the whole site!

Then the "tense moment": the customer gets their first live preview of their new site in all its glory!

This is always a tense moment or two because every site means so much to us and at this point the customer gets their first look at their new site and we wait for feedback on our interpretation of their hopes and dreams.

This time the feedback was one word:

Banging!

Did that give us a sense of pride, a sense of achievement? You bet it did!

When sites go live it is always a proud moment because we take immense pride in our work. However, its that little bit more special when a customer's first reaction is so positive :)

Saving The Best To Last

The first live preview is, pretty much, a review of the visual layout of the new site and it gives us the chance to see if there are any tweaks that are needed.

Depending upon the site being made it may be fully functional too at first review.

In this case we are building some incredible functionality into the way the web site works and that is not complete yet, it will of course be complete within the agreed timescale (for a CMS this is usually three- to four weeks).

I can't wait to see their response when the full functionality is reviewed and tested :-)