Clarity's 5 Steps in Every ecommerce, Webdesign or Implementation Project Simple steps to improve customer satisfaction and increase efficiency Why the Clarity Way Matters In today's ecommerce world, the scope of projects grow ever larger. Different development methodologies exist for completing individual pieces, often to great success, and yet many developers don't manage client expectations during non developmental time. At Clarity we use a simple 5 step process that ensures clients know where they are, always. Web Strategy meeting & Orientation This stage of the process establishes key outcomes for the project and allows the Clarity team to meet with respective Client team members to bring them up to speed on tools we will use throughout the process and how they might best review and assess status at any given time through their Client portal and live development environments. Technical Discovery & Documentation This stage of the process is oriented around identifying technical and functional requirements for the project. This process typically runs in parallel with the Design phase. The outcome of this phase is a detailed specifications document with testing / validation plans and detailed workflow and functional validation steps. This document has a sign-off section to ensure all parties are comfortable with the delivery expected and will be used in the Final QA testing stage and final approval process prior to launch. Design Phase This stage of the process is oriented around reviewing competitor’s and leader’s sites (within and outside of the Client’s direct industry) to identify key elements of design and UI/UX that will deliver an immersive and intuitive experience for users throughout their experience on the Client team’s new site(s). The outcome from this phase is a final approval on detailed design and branding media that shows what the site and any associated branding will look like once it’s built into a functional state. Full ecommerce Site development with integration This stage of the process is the actual execution on the end product/delivery. The functional portion of the project is relatively quick (can be completed within a few weeks) due to the nature of the Clarity ecommerce™ platform being a turn-key deployment. Similarly the Clarity Connect platform is a turn-key deployment as well. Both of these platforms integrate with existing systems and typically the primary constraint for this phase is obtaining content for the site as well as the files for validating any integration platform – specifically there is a stage where Clarity conducts a validation against a copy of any actual data in a test environment. So long as these items are forthcoming there entire process is relatively quick – we recommend planning on several months for the process though as typically internal team members will want to review and discuss to ensure an optimal workflow and process for end users. This phase immediately (within 1-2 weeks) delivers a development site that only Clarity and the Client team have access to but can review live updates to on a daily basis as well as a fully functional system ready for QA validation upon completion. Clarity works closely with Client team members during this phase to ensure the Client team is ready for hand-off and ongoing site updates on their end (as they choose to be involved in these – noting that Clarity can manage as little or as much of this as the Client team would like). Final QA Testing This stage of the process is oriented around validation of a 200 point checklist for X-browser, X-device and full system validation testing that Clarity will deliver against as well as a full testing plan and delivery of “all green” against the testing plan documents that are an output from the design and technical discovery and documentation process. Upon completion of this phase the site is approved to launch and the Clarity team will typically launch the site for the Client team during a low traffic 2-4 hour period and is available during weekends or off hours to conduct the go-live process. Typically Clarity will engage the Client team to plan and establish support SLA’s and ongoing training/support to ensure a seamless transition from sign-off and launch to ongoing updates and support.