You must understand the scope of your project and explore all the options before you start development.

Over the past few years, Bissellator has honed the requirements of a specification to cover the major areas of development. With a balance of the critical concerns with a straightforward style, these specifications are invaluable in ferreting out design issues and implementing a smooth, successful site.

 The dialogue process of creating the specification gives Bissellator's clients an opportunity to learn from an experienced design team while the design team learns about the company's goals and process. The final plan is much better than either of us could have come up with in a vacuum.

The average specification runs about 30-40 pages to the web site as a full service communication tool, from marketing, through sales and production. We charge a flat fee to create this document, and have found it a perfect first step towards forging a long-term relationship with our clients.

Site Map
This is a set of "blueprints" in the form of flow diagrams to define content and functionality. It will show not only how people will navigate the site, but also what technology and design requirements will be needed at each step.

Data organization/Database requirements
We will define exactly what information will be stored, how it will be modified, and by whom. By detailing the database to a field by field level including how the tables link, the specification can be used as an exercise to be certain there are no surprises in the information to be manipulated once the site development is underway.

Special Applications
Many web sites require special technology, small scripts, or full applications. Database applications and integration, content management tools, web forms, special navigation and other systems are all explored and explained.

Recommended Layouts
We include two to three, graphic mock-up pages which demonstrate the general look and feel of the site as we envision it. They are used primarily to show concepts that are otherwise difficult to describe in text. We fully expect that as the project progresses that the design will change and that these are only to be used as a starting point for later graphic development.

Marketing Recommendations
The web has it's own unique challenges for marketing and driving traffic; with years of experience in what helps to drive, track and retain traffic online, we evaluate what can be done in the development phase to support future marketing goals.

Resource Evaluation
The scope allows the team to evaluate how the technology and marketing goals will affect traffic levels and server loads and make appropriate recommendations for hardware, platform, and hosting. In addition to hardware related resources, additional professional services may be evaluated in this section of the specification.

Development Schedule
A timeline for completion of specific phases of the project can be created once the overall scope and resources are understood. This includes the design teams goals as well as tasks for client interaction and review.

Cost Estimates
Once the overall scope has been determined, it is fairly straightforward to create basic cost estimates to execute and maintain the full project as specified in the design document including hardware and hosting recommendations.
 
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