5 tips for outsourcing web development projects
After expertise, trust is the most significant aspect of a relationship with any outsourced agency. As a web development agency, we have more than a few tips and tricks to share to make sure your web design experience is one that is professional, positive and gets you the results you want. Read on for our trusty tips!
Whether you’re outsourcing a web development project for a client or your own company, it can feel like a daunting decision to make. After expertise, trust is the most significant aspect of a relationship with any outsourced agency. Everyone has heard the horror story about the new website design that kept getting extended, swallowed up the budget and didn’t even look the way the client wanted it in the end. But from our experience, we can assure that it doesn’t have to be that way!
As a web development agency, we have more than a few tips and tricks to share to make sure your web design experience is one that is professional, positive and gets you the results you want. Read below for our trusty tips or, if you want to chat with us directly about the finer details of your specific project, just give us a call!
1) Not all web development companies are the same
Web development companies all have their own specialised skill-sets. You’ll find that there are companies which have a very niche focus designing brochure websites, others concentrate on creating mobile apps and some specialise in WordPress or Shopify websites. Perhaps you require the expertise of a team that knows all about e-commerce? Or maybe it’s a crowdfunding website you’re after? It’s important to do your research and find the web development agency that is best suited to your needs.
Professional web development agencies will be transparent when it comes to their experience and skills. Check out their About page and Team page to see what expertise they have to offer. Do they use PHP, JavaScript, .NET, Python? What server-side and front-end frameworks are they used to working with? Are they interested in user experience (UX) and user interface (UI) design? It is much better to ask the right questions now rather than halfway through the project!
2) Work with people who understand you
Communication is the bedrock of any great relationship with an outsourced web development agency. An agency may have truly talented developers and an unbelievable portfolio, but if they don’t understand what it is you want, you won’t get the results you need.
Remember that when working with an outsourced agency, you could be on different time schedules and even in different time zones. Web development is a collaborative process when done right, so having everyone onboard and working off the same hymn sheet is essential from the get-go!
As a starting point, check the Values on their website to see if they align with yours. Do they have a project management style that resonates with you? If what you see looks good, then it is important at this point to get in a room with the lead designer and have a good old-fashioned chat!
3) Have a clear idea of what you want – show examples!
Yes, work with people who understand you… but at the same time don’t expect them to be mind readers! You and your team need to have a clear idea what your goals are for this website project. If you already have a website, then defining what doesn’t work about that is a great place to start. Research other websites (they don’t have to be restricted to your industry) and, with senior level buy-in, decide what you think works best for your brand.
It is important at this point to say that the ideas you come up with may not be what you end up with. You have employed the expertise of a web development agency and chances are they will have some opinions of their own as to what is best practice for your particular website. But it is very important that your expectations are clear from the beginning so they can provide you with alternative solutions grounded in a valid starting point.
4) Define the scope of the project
Web development agencies have their own project management styles that you can usually find explained on their website. You’ll find common project management methodologies that you would probably be familiar with, such as Agile, which is all about flexibility, speed and the breaking down of large tasks into manageable chunks; Waterfall, which supports sequential micro-tasks feeding into larger tasks with each step relying on the previous one; or Scrum, which favours time-restricted task completion by small teams overseen by a Scrum Master.
More important than understanding the ins and outs of each project management style is knowing how this impacts you and your clients. How long is the web development project going to take? How many stages are there and what is the estimated timeline for each? What is dependent on you to get done and by what time do the web development agency need that critical information? The clearer you are about the project’s timescale the more confident you will be in your web development agency.
5) Nominate a project manager
We have already covered how important clear communication is for productive and effective collaboration and this is where we underline that point and add an exclamation mark! We cannot stress how helpful it is to the overall process when you nominate a project manager who is responsible for signing off on decisions. Keeping the project a streamlined process that doesn’t get continuously stalled because of bad lines of communication will make the whole experience a lot more beneficial for everyone involved.
Getting projects over the line – on time and on budget – isn’t always as easy as it sounds. A solid partnership with the right agency is the
At MadBit, we specialise in user-focused, mobile-friendly web design. If you have a website project coming up and would like to work with a forward-thinking, responsive development agency, get in touch today.