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Cost Effective Web Development
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Drew McLellan
September 27, 2011
Technology
3
120
Cost Effective Web Development
From Iceweb 2010, Reykjavík, Iceland
Drew McLellan
September 27, 2011
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Transcript
10 COST EFFECTIVE WEB DEVELOPMENT TECHNIQUES
OR: HOW CAN I MAKE THE BEST USE OF LIMITED
DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT BUDGETS IN THESE INCREASINGLY CHALLENGING ECONOMIC TIMES?
SOMEWHERE OUT THERE LIES A WORLD OF LIMITLESS BUDGETS
WHEN BUDGETS ARE TIGHT EVERYONE WORKS HARDER
F A S T E R CHEAPER BETTER STRONGER WITH
FEWER RESOURCES AVAILABLE
S O M E T E C H N I
Q U E S A R E TECHNICAL BUT MANY ARE ABOUT WORKFLOW
I’M DREW MCLELLAN E D G E O F M
Y S E AT. C O M ~ @ D R E W M I HELP PEOPLE BUILD THINGS ON THE WEB
HERE’S THE TIPS PRESENTED IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER
1 WRITE A COMPREHENSIVE SPECIFICATION FOR YOUR PROJECT
& A GOOD SPEC DOES TWO THINGS LIMITS S C
O P E E N A B L E S EFFICIENCY
T H E E A S I E S T
P L A C E TO CONTROL COSTS - IS IN - THE SPEC
DESCRIBE HOW THE SITE WORKS FROM THE USER’S PERSPECTIVE NOT
HOW IT’S IMPLEMENTED
C H A N G E S A R E
C H E A P T O M A K E O N PAPER
ENABLES EFFICIENCY! DEVELOPMENT - CAN BE - PLANNED U P
F R O N T
- NO - ALARMS - NO - SURPRISES
2 EVALUATE POSSIBLE EXISTING SOLUTIONS
DON’T REINVENT THE WHEEL
EVALUATE AGAINST YO U R ( N OW S O
L I D ) SPECIFICATION
CONSIDER COMPROMISES: WHERE DOES COST MATTER MORE THAN FEATURES?
USE EXISTING CODE AND BUILD 10% ON TOP - NOT
- 100% FROM NOTHING
3 CONSIDER THE COST OF YOUR DESIGN CHOICES
None
None
None
None
T O U G H BUT NOT IMPOS S I
B L E
I T J U S T TA K E S
TIME
None
None
None
C O N S I D E R T H
E DEVELOPMENT IMPLICATIONS O F E V E RY S I N G L E DESIGN CHOICE
4 MAKE SURE YOUR DESIGN COVERS ALL STATES THE USER
ENCOUNTERS
GOING BACK & FORTH CO S T S T I
M E
& - CONSIDER - LOGGED IN LOGGED OUT
& - CONSIDER - EMPTY STATES TOO MUCH DATA
& - CONSIDER - WITH JAVASCRIPT WITHOUT
& - CONSIDER - ERRORS MESSAGES
MAKE SURE EVERYTHING IN THE SPEC IS DESIGNED
5 DESIGN FOR REUSABILITY
BUILD A TOOLKIT OF REUSABLE COMPONENTS
DESIGN TO A GRID
EVERY UNIQUE ELEMENT IS A SOURCE OF COST
- A FEW - VERSATILE TEMPLATES IS BETTER THAN DOZENS
None
6 REMEMBER: BROADBAND IS NOT A SILVER BULLET
None
DESIGNING FOR BROADBAND PUTS EXTRA LOAD ON YOUR SERVERS
- BANDWIDTH IS - EXPENSIVE C O N S I
D E R Y O U R RUNNING COSTS
JUST BECAUSE IT’S DIGITAL DOESN’T MEAN IT’S FREE
7 PREPARE YOUR DESIGN FILES READY TO SEND ACROSS TO
YOUR DEVELOPER
MAKE IT EASY FOR YOUR DEVELOPER - TO - GET
IT RIGHT
MISTAKES - & - ADJUSTMENTS ARE EXPENSIVE
GOING BACK AND FORTH COSTS TIME
NAME AND GROUP - YOUR LAYERS -
PROVIDE FLAT VERSIONS OF EACH STATE FOR REFERENCE
HAND OVER A COLOUR GUIDE
EXPLAIN YOUR GRID - DEVELOPERS WILL LOVE YOU -
8 BUILD YOUR SITE FOR CHEAP MAINTENANCE
ONCE A SITE IS BUILT IT HAS TO BE MAINTAINED
C O N T E N T CHANGES S T
RU C T U R E CHANGES U S E A G E CHANGES
DESIGN & BUILD FOR FLEXIBILITY
- AVOID - LABOUR-INTENSIVE TECHNIQUES SUCH AS TEXT AS IMAGES
DON’T DESIGN EACH SECTION - IN A - DIFFERENT COLOUR
CONSIDER HOW EACH ELEMENT RESPONDS TO CHANGE AND THE TIME
IT WILL TAKE TO ADAPT IT
9 BUILD YOUR SITE FOR LOW COST QUALITY ASSURANCE (THAT’S
TESTING!)
EVERY ELEMENT OF A SITE NEEDS TO BE TESTED
- MULTIPLE - BROWSERS - MULTIPLE - PLATFORMS
LOGGED IN - OR - LOGGED OUT
JAVASCRIPT ON OR OFF
FLASH INSTALLED OR NOT
THERE ARE TWO OUTCOMES: TESTING GETS EXPENSIVE - OR -
QUALITY SUFFERS
CONSIDER THE TESTING OVERHEAD OF EVERYTHING YOU ADD
10 BUILD ON THE SHOULDERS OF GIANTS USE EXISTING APIS
OUTSOURCE AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE
THE WEB IS A COLLECTION OF SMALL PIECES LOOSELY JOINED
BE A SMALL PIECE
AMAZON S3 FEEDBURNER YOUTUBE / VIMEO FLICKR GOOGLE MAPS YAHOO!
SEARCH
APIS
THE BEST WAY TO SAVE MONEY LET SOMEONE ELSE SPEND
THEIRS
THANK YOU ANY QUESTIONS?
SLIDES ALLINTHEHEAD.COM/PRESENTATIONS FOLLOW ME: @DREWM