The web design and development process leading up to the launch of a large-scale, multi-site WordPress web property has the potential to be quite complex. In many cases, it involves the expert integration of design and development teams, each managing a different aspect of the impending launch, often simultaneously with one another. With multiple professionals working on many different aspects of the same project, it’s not hard to imagine how oversights or omissions might occur, effectively leading to the derailment of what might otherwise have been a successful website launch.
It’s not uncommon for even seasoned web development professionals to succumb to mistakes in this regard. Gabriel Koen recently presented a talk entitled “Launches: Lessons Learned” about the design and development issues his teams specifically encountered leading up to the launches of various projects he managed as Vice President of Engineering at Penske Media Corporation. Each incident, however small, ultimately ended up guiding his approach to strategizing future launches in a more effective and successful manner.
(Source: vip.wordpress.com)
Common Mistakes Leading up to a Project’s Launch (and Beyond)
Many of the situations Koen highlighted in his presentation were errors or oversights seasoned WordPress web design and development professionals are likely to recognize. Throughout his talk, Koen described a variety of instances where something went awry prior to (and sometimes even after) the launch of a major web property. This included a project where his team launched a new feature on a client’s website that was not rolled out in tandem to the mobile version of the site, as well as a situation where a client’s web traffic went down due to an omission related to search engine indexing. There was even a project, Koen admitted, where a launch was deemed completed when it had in fact ended up never actually taking place at all.
Identifying Effective Solutions: Organization and Communication are Key Components
Throughout the talk, Koen offered informative examples of how to address problems like these, or even avoid them completely at the project’s inception. From speaking directly to the clients to define end objectives and expectations to assigning every team member specific tasks with goal-oriented hard deadlines, Koen’s takeaway message is clear — the better organized a web design and development team is, the less likely it is that any of these issues will be encountered, thus increasing the chances that the project will launch on schedule.
Communication is also essential, first in defining client expectations, and subsequently in relaying them to the design and development teams, Koen stressed. Each team member can then be assigned tasks in a manners most effective to meeting the deadlines required for a timely website launch.
Contact a Professional Firm Skilled in WordPress Web Design and Development
Launching a web property using WordPress requires hiring a knowledgeable team that can handle back-end web development seamlessly with successful implementation of design objectives on the front-end. As a web and creative agency based in the Washington, D.C. Metro area, Materiell is a deadline-oriented DC design and development firm that has an expansive breadth of knowledge related to WordPress as a custom content management system.
Materiell has worked with a variety of different local government agencies, higher education organizations, and enterprise-level corporate entities to produce web design and development plans that have led to successful website launches. No matter what the scale of your project, we can work with you from concept to completion, designing custom WordPress themes that respond fluidly across devices. Contact Materiell today to discuss a web design and development plan that caters to the individual needs and timeline of your business or organization.