We believe that the most challenging and important element of every project is not the programming and implementation, but rather the planning and system design that come beforehand.  As such, we devote a lot of attention to this primary phase of the project.

Planning

We begin every project with a kick-off meeting that's attended by all the key players to discuss the goals and objectives of the project, and all of its specific details. By the completion of this meeting, Modern Signal should have an understanding for the strategy of this project, and will create the first round of planning documents.  These include:

• Information Architecture - Outlines all of the content for the web site and categorizes them into a logical tree structure. The information architecture will begin to designate important content that should be highlighted or featured on the homepage.   It will also inform the navigation for the site, such as the main menu navigation and the linkages across different sections of the site.
• Functional Requirements Document - This is a textual description of the functionality for each of the administrative tools and the front-end screens for general users. This document builds upon the initial proposal and fleshes out the functionality for each area.
• Screen Mock-Ups - To illustrate how the functionality will be presented on the screen, Modern Signal will create Visio or HTML mock-ups of representative site pages. 

Design

Once the planning documents have been approved, the design process can begin.  This includes both the crafting of visual designs that will determine the look and feel and layout of the web site but also the technical design, which includes the database schema and plans for shared libraries and functions.

Programming

The planning documents then provide a blueprint for development to ensure that completed application will fulfill the goals and objectives set forth originally.  With these documents in place, the actual technical implementation will begin. 

All Modern Signal applications will undergo a comprehensive quality assurance process to test that each screen functions as scoped and without errors or complications.  In addition, the application will go through a code review and benchmarking process to ensure that all code is clean, documented and optimized for maximum speed, performance and scalability.

Review, Feedback & Reporting

Through each phase of this project, we will be in close communication with the client to keep them abreast of the progress of the project and to obtain feedback at key milestones to ensure that their vision remains throughout the implementation. 

To facilitate this process, the Project Manager will act as the day-to-day contact  and will be responsible for all communications and reporting. This individual will function as the point of contact and will ensure that the project is developing according to specifications, budget and schedule.