"Compared to market competitors, Serena stands out as fresh and vibrant."

"Serena is approachable and speaks the user's language."

"We always knew, at every step, what we were getting."

"The new site is beyond expectation. Professional, informative and, best of all, fun at the same time."

CASE STUDY: Web Design

CLIENT NAME
Joseph Mazzenga and Christine DePetrillo, Authors

SERVICES PROVIDED:
Web design including a blog, and audio.

AVERAGE RATING GIVEN: 4.75 Stars out of 5

HOW IT HAPPENED:

DISCOVER

Joe and Christine were referred to me by a friend. We set up an initial consultation by email, and met at a local cafe to discuss what kind of site they were imagining, timelines, budgets and how much they expected the site to expand in the future. I had a copy of the book on hand, so I showed up to the meeting with a couple of examples of what the home page could look like, in hopes that it would inspire the discussion, and provide us with a focused start point.

The site would need to feature the novel they co-wrote, Hybrid Seed, while also showcasing them as authors. They also wanted an ambient soundtrack to the site, and a blog where they could post and receive comments on their writings and the characters in their novel. The book was based on a fantasy and science fiction theme. They already had some character illustrations as well as cover art for the book.

I offered Joe and Christine a choice of three different packages representing a range of prices and features, and suggested that the mid range choice seemed like the best fit.

A few days later, they got back to me via email to say that they would be happy to accept my offer, with a few "a la carte" features exchanged for others, and I began work immediately.

CREATE

We had a pretty fast-paced timeline for this project. The goal was to complete the site before an upcoming writer's trade show. We scheduled a second meeting, where I walked them through the timeline in detail, and we we each left with a list of homework and deadlines to make the project go smoothly.

At this meeting, we discussed how site would work, and how it would be set up. We talked about how to gain good search engine rankings by updating and maintaining the site often, and how to create a buzz that would drive people to the site--without breaking the bank. We talked about the mood of the site, and covered what areas would need to be editable by them.

I set out to create the site using basic XHTML and CSS. As I had created drafts, I posted them to my server so that they could view them and get feedback. A lot of cross-browser and cross-platform testing was needed to ensure that the site worked. I had custom created several versions of the background music and we discovered that it was not playing in some browsers. To solve this, I designed them a custom music player using Flash. This seemed to balance the problem, as the free player works in most all browsers.

The site was coming together. As we neared the end of the timeline, I helped set up an account where Joe and Christine could log in and purchase their domain name and hosting plan. Once the plan was set, I was able to install and customize their blog, and post the new drafts of the site. We revised and continued to test the site until the official launch date.

RELEASE

When the site was finally complete, Joe and Christine sent out an email to their friends, family and fans letting them know. We got lots of great feedback.

We had a follow-up meeting where we went over how to look up the statistics for the site, and how to use the blog features.

There were a few minor changes and fixes that we discovered after release. My policy is to take care of those changes for a full 30 days after release, free of charge. I added a menu of downloadable screensavers, and fixed a few funky images that were misbehaving on certain browsers.

I have received regular updates from Joe and Christine letting me know that their site traffic is steady and increasing, and that they are happy with the final product.