Effective technical strategy and planning

for websites and mobile apps*

* Planetary invasions not included

Sally Jenkinson

Hi!

Sally Jenkinson @sjenkinson

www.sallyjenkinson.co.uk

TODAY’S SESSION

Why do we plan?

Examples of how you may want to plan.

Explore what the impact of your !ndings may be.

…and what we’re not covering…

WHY DO WE PLAN?

http://whitneyhess.com/blog/2012/10/18/whats-your-problem-putting-purpose-back-into-your-projects/

Before we asked “how do we build?” we asked “what is the right thing to build?”

“

”

xh#p://www.flickr.com/photos/ikhnaton2/533233247/  

Battlestar Galactica: The Plan

I’ve !gured out what went wrong.

“”Well  that’s  a  very  useful  

revelaBon  to  have  when  you’re  standing  in  front  of  an  airlock.

“

”

  Better understanding of needs   Complexities, limitations   Possibilities previously unknown   More accurate estimates   Avoid roadblocks mid-project

= More effective projects

“So here’s the signed off plan for the app functionality!”

“Oh… yeah… so I looked at the API docs and we can’t get that data after all. Sorry.”

“Have you got any ideas for the new app?”

“Yeah, did you know that the API exposes the location of nearby Cylon sleeper agents? We can totally use that.”

?

THE SCENARIO

A new project opportunity…

The result =

AT THIS POINT IT’S ALWAYS FUN TO

ASK…

BACK TO OUR BRIEF

EXPLORE What do they really need?

The usual questions

1

“We have no budget.”

“We need it delivered in two weeks.”

We just assumed two weeks would be enough. How much time do you

recommend?

“

”

Client starting points

2

“We would like to release an app to the public.”

“We have developed a system… we don’t know anything about it.”

“Open Source Web 3.0… free”

“HTML5… we hear that helps SEO”

Standard process 3

Technical planning for websites and

apps

Starting points

Content management

Data migration

Analytics

Forms

Management processes

Resource

Estimates

Deployment

Pro!ling/personalisation

Testing

Social

Performance

CRM

Advertising

Payment processing

Languages

Ecommerce

Search

Video

Third party integration

Admin processes

Hosting

CDN

Devices

Functionality

Managed?

Existing or new?

Specification/requirements

Bandwidth expectations

Personas

Traffic sources

Goals

Mobile/app tracking

Review current

data

Identify existing issues

Tracking implementation

planFeed into test plan/marketing/

features

Which languages?

Layout implications

(Arabic, Japanese etc)

Languages required for admin area?

Content translation

process

Geolocation

TLD/URL planning

Same content translated across

all, or tailored content and IA?

Risk management

Skill sets Availability

Time tracking

Sign off process

Bug tracking

Feature/improvement

backlog

Change management

Version control

Automation

Process? Multiple

environments?

Third party involvement/client

requirements?

Accessibility requirements

Browsers

ToolsActual

QA process

Benchmarks

Performance/load/stress

Security

Audits

SSL

Data protection

Backups

Disaster recovery/failover

Objectives

Best practice/

competitors

Optimisation

Licensing

What problems are there at the

moment?

Areas used frequently

Can we tie together multiple systems to streamline admin

tasks?

Editors using devices to

admin?

Online/offline considerations

Open source policy

What areas need to be managed?

Technology dependencies

Skill sets available

Existing infrastructure/components

Content planning

Existing systems

Is this currently used to manage data elsewhere?

How is data

stored?

Assets

Web content

Accounts/passwords

Secure info

What can be managed at

the moment?

No. of concurrent admin users

Number/types of servers/

environment config

Creation of APIs

API specs - inputs, outputs,

methods, formats

Is what is being used/

recommended the best match?

What alternatives are

available?

Apps

Mobile web

DRM

Distribution channels

Hardware access

requirements

Discovery/marketing strategy

Existing 'non-mobile friendly'

content

SSO

CRM

Newsletter

E-commerce

Event management/

booking

Real-time data

Caching/redundancy

planning

Third party link out

experience

Widgets

Technology/standards

alignment?

301 redirects

Automated/manual

Functional

User account migration Who is doing

this? Responsibilities

Amount of dynamic content

Streaming

Security offerings

Policies and compliance

Load balancing

Regions to serve

Expected traffic spikes

Form actions - where is the

data going and why?

Validation

What data needs to be collected?

Consume

Export

UGC

Moderation

Pre

Post

Custom object

mapping

Marketing strategy - what could be useful that isn't

there?

Direct integration or

checking process?

Encoding input

formats

Encoding output formats

Pre-roll/post-roll/in-video contextual advertising

Custom designed

player

Is player compatible

with devices?

Subtitles/transcripts

Wireframe review

MonitizationTargeting specific devices?

Existing app/mobile site?

Enhancements possible

Retina images

Currencies

Card types

Internationally popular social

networks

Subscription

Processing costs

On-site/off-site

processing

Visual customisability of third party

interface

Format of transactions - micro, batch

etcRefund process

Taking, or making

payments?

Integration with publishing

process/caching

Page/content element based

Results relevance

Faceted search filters

Predictive search

Coding standards

Any libraries in use at present

Logging and error handling

Existing Internet

Merchant Bank Account

Number of SKUs

Currencies

Loyalty schemes

Promos/discount

types

Same products in all

territories?

Tax

Visual customisation of results - e.g. buy

now links for products

Shipping and fulfilment

Product types

Product meta data

Stock management

In-app e-commerce restrictions

Unit tests

Caching strategy

Results sorting

Custom search landing

pages

Marketing intelligence

Content sync

Visual customisation possibilities

Content model

Social interaction

trackingEmail

campaign tracking

Goals/filter setup

Cross-site/subdomain

tracking

Diagram by Sally Jenkinson - www.sally.jenkinson.co.uk - @sjenkinson

Manual ad selection / dynamic

Third party Responsive design

variants

www.sallyjenkinson.co.uk/starBngpoints/  

h#p://www.sxc.hu/photo/1399510/  

? The right people

APP

CMS Website

APP

APP Replicant cat

detection system

Respect the developers! !

In our scenario… !

Summary: investigation

=

MATCH SOLUTIONS What is the best way to build this?

With permission from Kropserkel - http://kropserkel.com

Are you using technology appropriately?

  “An app” (Presumed iPhone, built natively)   Cheap, quick   Limited functionality   No time to make it CMS-driven   “Open Source Web 3.0” = the client must be

dumb, we can give them anything!

Our initial understanding

  Use existing CMS   Time to investigate the detection system fully

& prototype - educated functional/UI decisions

  App decision con!rmed   Client con!dence, relationship strengthened

After technical planning

GET FEEDBACK How do others feel about this?

Tailor your communication

appropriately !

“We want to sell things! Can we have a shop in our app?”

WAIT!

As with any grand plan, some things just don’t

work, and others change.

ROADMAP Technical planning is for life, not

just for Christmas.

THE PLAN

THANK YOU

@sjenkinson www.sallyjenkinson.co.uk sally.jenkinson@gmail.com

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