A website, by its very nature, is a dynamic, interactive, living thing.
Here at Sweet Smart, we believe that you can’t evaluate and provide feedback on your website until you can see it in action. Click the buttons, see how the pages relate to each other, try to use it the way your clients will use it.
That’s why we don’t use wireframes and static designs; your first look at your new website will be something you can touch, feel, and try out. With a lot less time wasted in back-and-forth approval of pictures of something, we save you time and money as we head quickly towards a fantastic finished product.
What are wireframes and static designs?
Larger website organizations divide the jobs of website designer and website developer.
The designer is in charge of how the website looks. They work with graphic design programs to draw flowcharts of pages and how they will interact. They create flat images that show you samples of how the site will look.
These can be helpful for identifying colours and fonts, and lists of the required pages.
But they don’t really give you a feel for how it’s all going to work.
Most of us can’t look at a flowchart and understand how that will progress in terms of clicks and buttons and finding what your clients need.
Most of us can’t look at a flat, static image and understand how that is going to look on different screen sizes, or how it will change as you resize a window, or what sections will actually display on the screen versus those that will require scrolling.
Still, larger organizations will ask you to “sign off” on static, flat designs before they send it to their tech guy, the web developer, to build it.
If the web developer finds that a small change in the design would allow the site to be more efficient or flow better, they aren’t allowed to make that change. The design has already been approved and is locked in.
And if, once you see the actual build, you don’t like how it works, extra charges will apply to change it – because you’ve already given your absolute approval to those flat, static pictures of something that is dynamic in nature.
Get web design and development in one
We do web design and development in one fell swoop.
We start by getting to know you and your business, so we have a good idea of the content your site needs. We ask you to show us sites you love – sites where you like the flow and action – so we know what kind of movement and layout to emulate. We talk about what the feel of the site should be, what colours to use, what style choices to make.
Then, when we come to you for feedback on the first round of designs, you’ll already have something you can test out – click around, see how it all interacts and works together. Your feedback will be part of your original package and changes are included, because when we’re working in a live environment like this, it’s a collaborative effort.
We don’t waste time with a lot of back-and-forth on wireframes and static images that won’t give you a good idea of how your website is going to work, anyway.
Instead, we jump ahead to the good stuff – getting a site up and running that you can visualize and amend in real time.
You’ll still have lots of chances to give your opinion – we work collaboratively, using your feedback to make modifications, until you love it! But we’ll hit the ground running with a head start, because the first thing you see is something you can touch and feel.
What’s the benefit?
Skipping the initial design steps means:
- a lot less time wasted in back-and-forth approval meetings – especially “approving” things you don’t have a good visual of
- getting to the finish line faster – each round of edits works directly towards the final product, so a site can be up and running in a matter of weeks instead of months
- a lot less expense – the time savings of eliminating a few steps in the process and going straight to a working design means that our packages cost much less than a full-service company
Sound good? Contact us today for a free quote.
