Our Methodology

Planning

A careful plan is the foundation of every successful project. Regardless of size, every project starts here, allowing us to get to know each other and fully evaluate your needs so that we can define success together.

A woodsman was once asked, ‘What would you do if you had just five minutes to chop down a tree?’ He answered, ‘I would spend the first two and a half minutes sharpening my axe.’

  • Research

    Our "sharpening of the axe." Your project may not require in-depth research, but spending some time with what we know about you, your competition, and the latest in ecommerce best practices, is highly beneficial.

  • Define

    Whether a simple email outline or a full-scale slideshow, Planning concludes with a presentation of our findings along with your scope of work, outlining all of the tasks necessary for completing your project.

Implementation

The work begins! Implementation is where thoughts become reality, as the results of planning your project start to become your project. Think of it as tuning the focus on a telescope: over time, design and development will bring clarity and sharpness to the shared vision defined in Planning.

Build

Don't let the space allotted for this step fool you — the Build step is where the bulk of our time will be spent. Depending on your requirements, we may be designing within a theme's capabilities, or designing and developing bespoke features just for you.

Train

We don't want you to have to work with us again, we want you to want to work with us again. For built-in Shopify features, we can guide you to the right resources. For custom-built features, we'll develop training that empowers you to take control.

Launch

Let's summit that peak! We're here to help you get your project live to the world. We review all work for quality before this step and require that you sign off with your own User Acceptance Testing as well. We can assist with pointing your domain, guide you in setting up Shopify and third-party Apps properly—and more.

Post-launch

After we finish our work, we provide 30 days of bug fixes, free of charge. Beyond that, the only constant is change and the Internet never sleeps. Whether it's consumer behavior, acceptable User Experience, accessibility, or privacy laws—not to mention Shopify is releasing hundreds of new features every quarter—if we're honest, your project doesn't end; the need simply changes.

Optimize

Rather than let things build up over time, we much prefer incremental changes along the way. We recommend a post-launch retainer, called Guide Service. With Guide Service, you receive discounted hourly and project rates, among many other features geared toward optimization. If a retainer isn't for you, you can always request new tasks à la carte at our standard hourly rate.