{"id":28403,"date":"2018-10-23T11:00:00","date_gmt":"2018-10-23T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/futurelab.digitalmachine.co.nz\/blog\/what-is-custom-web-development\/"},"modified":"2018-10-23T11:00:00","modified_gmt":"2018-10-23T11:00:00","slug":"what-is-custom-web-development","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/futurelab.digitalmachine.co.nz\/nz\/blog\/what-is-custom-web-development\/","title":{"rendered":"What is Custom Web Development"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">By Ralf Klis, FutureLab\u2019s owner and technical leader.<br><em>This post was originally published on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/rafalklis\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">LinkedIn<\/a>.<\/em><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>I work in an industry bursting with various options and solutions. There are hundreds of web development companies out there, providing thousands of solutions. From customising Wix websites, building entire CMS from scratch, <a href=\"https:\/\/wordpress.org\/\">WordPress<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/magento.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Magento<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/umbraco.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Umbraco<\/a> \u2013 the list goes on and on. All of that falls under the broad definition of web development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Defining Custom Web Development<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>There are as many definitions of custom web development as there are companies out there specialising in providing it. But what they have in common is providing some sort of customisation for the customer. The most popular ones include:<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"list-wrapper\">\n<ul><li>Customising a closed source system for the customer\u2019s needs<\/li><li>Creating a completely custom solution for the customer<\/li><li>Customising an Open Source theme for the customer\u2019s branding<\/li><li>Customising an Open Source CMS for the customer\u2019s needs<\/li><\/ul>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>The majority of custom web development companies out there would be developing one of the above solutions. Basically, these solutions are about making the experience of the website\/web app unique on the market in some way. And there\u2019s no single \u201cright way\u201d to do it; often the same result can be achieved in a number of different ways.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You\u2019re probably wondering why I\u2019m writing about customisation if it\u2019s all the same. Why start the discussion in the first place? Because through my own journey of building a custom creation business, I discovered that we were all wrong. That the above definition is not what custom web development really entails.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What is custom web development<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Here\u2019s a hint. To get to the heart of what \u201ccustom web development\u201d really means, remove the \u201cweb\u201d part and what\u2019s left over? <em>Custom development: <\/em>it&#8217;s the <em>entire <\/em>journey of the project, from the idea through to the result, which must be customised. My sales person once asked me to create a script for the initial meeting with a new customer. It was an impossible request. Because creating a script would ruin my definition of customising the experience. Customising the creation of something new. And it cannot be fully customised or innovative or unique if we aim to repeat any of the previous solutions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The custom journey<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>We create custom solutions. In order to deliver them, we customise every element of the journey. It\u2019s not a trademark<sup>TM<\/sup> and it\u2019s not a rocket science, but we make sure that the web journey is unique for every customer.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"list-wrapper\">\n<ol><li><strong> The start <\/strong><p>One of the most important elements of the first meeting with our customers is that we don\u2019t do much talking. We listen. In the end, we\u2019re not here to offer a pre-ordained solution, we\u2019re here to find out what the customer needs and then come up with a solution to solve their problem. So once the customer tells you what they need, that\u2019s when you can start the talking. Only then can you suggest the solution, discuss options and start the process of customising the journey.<\/p><\/li><li><strong> The data <\/strong><p>Whatever the end goal, you can\u2019t get to a perfect solution without measuring the current state. This is assuming that we have access to some kind of data. Even if the customer&#8217;s product is brand new, there are tools like <a rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/ads.google.com\/home\/tools\/keyword-planner\/\" target=\"_blank\">Google Keywords Planner<\/a> or <a rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/trends.google.com\/trends\/\" target=\"_blank\">Google Trends<\/a> to do some initial competitor research. If your customer already has a web presence, <a rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/analytics.google.com\/analytics\/web\/\" target=\"_blank\">Google Analytics<\/a> is invaluable for measuring data. We also use <a rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hotjar.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">Hotjar<\/a> to create a User Experience\u00a0(UX) report and <a rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/datastudio.google.com\" target=\"_blank\">Google Data Studio<\/a> to assess all the most important data in one place.<\/p><\/li><li> <strong>Discovery <\/strong><p>Whether it\u2019s a simple website or a web app with a complete business management system, the discovery phase is where the custom journey gets up to full speed. We divide this into visual and technical discovery.<br>Visual discovery is learning about and helping to organise all the information about a customer\u2019s brand, brand guidelines, likes and dislikes. This is sometimes reinforced by very simple design presentations to find out what the customer likes.<br>Technical discovery is also called scoping. This phase gathers all the required functionality, describes it and puts it in one place (the scope document). This document also becomes your delivery goal as all the functionality described and agreed on by all stakeholders becomes an end-product checklist.<\/p> <\/li><li><strong> Design <\/strong><p>The design phase should use all the above elements to create not only a unique user experience and design, but also to provide a solution to the identified problem. This is often a struggle between the data and the customer\u2019s needs. The ideal solution is a middle ground between what the user is looking for (UX report) and what the customer wants (scope). A great example I frequently bring up relates to the contact form on the top of the homepage. When we did a UX report on one customer\u2019s old website, it turned out that no one ever filled out the form on the home page itself. All converted users automatically clicked on the menu element \u201ccontact us\u201d before even looking below the menu. The solution was a middle ground \u2013 remove the \u201ccontact us\u201d tab on the menu and replace it with a button \u201cenquire\u201d that pops up a contact form without leaving the page.<\/p><\/li><li><strong> Development <\/strong><p>This part has been already described above. Whether it\u2019s a fully customised CMS or customised Wix website, it\u2019s important to focus on delivering the right solution for the customer. One customer may look for ease of editing; another prefers full automation. Whatever the needs and goals are, the majority of the web development work happens here.<\/p><\/li><li> <strong>Training <\/strong><p>This might be a somewhat unique approach of my business and my philosophy, but as much as I love our customers and love keeping in touch, the last thing any of us would like to hear is \u201ccan you please fix that typo on my blog\u201d. It\u2019s not just important for us that the customer has full control of their content and website; it\u2019s also very important for every business to have full control of their product. This might be a landing page, eCommerce, or the web app of a startup fully built on the web. Whatever it is, the customer needs to be in control because otherwise, they become dependent on one developer. That is why we provide training on using the custom solution, plus a manual with full documentation, on every project we do.<\/p><\/li><li><strong> Handover and go live <\/strong><p>Having worked in the Internet industry for most of my life, I know well how things can go wrong. And there are no promises or guarantees in the world that will prevent it. Just like the development process, the handover and go live process need to be customised as well. If it\u2019s a transactional website, the go live plan needs to cause minimal disruption to the system, purchasing, ordering, booking etc. Even with a simple landing page replacement, there has to be a plan for whether the links will change, any redirects, carrying over extra tracking tags from the old website or perhaps simplifying everything by switching to <a rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/marketingplatform.google.com\/about\/tag-manager\/\" target=\"_blank\">Google Tag Manager<\/a>. Either way, this part is very important and the customer\u2019s input is needed to ensure it\u2019s as smooth as possible.<\/p><\/li><li> <strong>Support <\/strong><p>This often-forgotten step is an important part in customising the development experience. There is no golden rule and once your web solution is live there will always be something that goes wrong, has been forgotten, or even misspelled. A clear plan of responsibilities, action and support process is very important for every customer. That\u2019s because their online journey hasn\u2019t finished but just started: with constant changes in the Internet and in the industry, the solution that has been developed will constantly evolve. And there\u2019s nothing more frustrating than not being able to deal with the problem.<\/p> <\/li><\/ol>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>Whoever knows me, knows that I\u2019m a huge Open Source supporter. I\u2019ve been co-organising <a href=\"https:\/\/www.meetup.com\/Auckland-WordPress-Users\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">WordPress meetups<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/central.wordcamp.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-wplink-edit=\"true\">WordCamps<\/a> for several years. And I volunteer for one reason \u2013 to make the Internet a better place. That\u2019s why when we provide a custom solution it\u2019s a custom journey that we all take together. It&#8217;s a small but crucial point of difference, and at the end of the journey you can often end up somewhere completely different than you might have predicted at the beginning. That&#8217;s the beauty of a truly customised development process.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Ralf Klis, FutureLab\u2019s owner and technical leader.This post was originally published on LinkedIn. I work in an industry bursting with various options and solutions. There are hundreds of web development companies out there, providing thousands of solutions. From customising Wix websites, building entire CMS from scratch, WordPress, Magento, Umbraco \u2013 the list goes on <a class=\"read_more\" href=\"https:\/\/futurelab.digitalmachine.co.nz\/nz\/blog\/what-is-custom-web-development\/\"> Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":28404,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[268,237,229,265],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v20.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>What is Custom Web Development - futurelab<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Ralf Klis explains what is the difference between widely understood custom web development and his vision of custom customer journey to achieve great result\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What is Custom Web Development - 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