Ecommerce Web Build Brief - Help?!?

[dazfree]

Hi,

We are having a total rebuild of our e-commerce website. We are an e-commerce site and have been established for nearly 3 years now and feel it is time to rebuild the website. Feel it is a good opportunity to improve conversions and many other niggling factors.

We have had the PSDs done of our pages for homepage, category and product pages so all design issues are sorted (they look great if I say so myself!). Well, the majority of design issues sorted and we also know the rebuild will be on the Magento shopping cart (which we currently use).

The brief is to be sent to around 10 different companies who have shown previous experience and knowledge of the Magento platform. Some will be from this forum and others we have used in the past for little jobs etc...

I'm really keen to write a great brief and include as much detail as possible to help the companies we will send the brief to. I would like any users/web devs/magento dev what they normally think is important to include in a brief. Off the top of my head I'm thinking:

- Overview of current situation - Current magento version, the problems and issues, extensions being used, overview of setup (e.g. multisite), furstrations with current site etc...

- Overview of Required Solution - Update to X.XX version of Magento etc...

- Image of New Homepage - Annotated to show where all the features should be edited from (e.g. main chunk of text edited in CMS > Manage Pages)

- Image of New Category Page - Annotated similar to Homepage

- Image of Product Page - Annotated similar to Homepage

- Other Parts of Site - Basket, Checkout, FAQ pages etc... How they should be styled

- Other Requirements - Anything else that is part of the project not evident by the PSDs. Things like Google Shopping, Rich Snippets, Automated Emails, SEO Requirements (rel=canonical tag), etc...

- Mobile Specific Site - This is part of the project but will use a extension for this which will require setting up and styling

- Time - Requirements for the project to be complete by XX etc...

- Budget - Milestone Payments (e.g. 20% at start of Project, 20% after Homepage coded etc...) Will not reveal maximum budget. Will be negotiable with company.

- Project Management - Be a nightmare to use just emails for project management, will outline the tools which will be used for the project etc..

- Request for Tender from Companies - Ask them to submit a price for the project and time to build. Also ask for Magento examples from their portfolio and references of past customers etc...

I can't think of anything else off the top of my head, but don't be shy and chip in with any comments and maybe we could produce a good template of the issues that should be covered on a good E-commerce brief.

Thanks,

D

 

[webgeek]

We just got to contract signing with a client on 40K GBP redesign project (we're not the design agency, but acted as technical liaisons).

In this instance the project spec was done by an experienced web project manager and felt like an Argos catalog when printed! The guiding spec made vendor selection much easier, because there were so few areas for interpretation.

My point is simply... If you're not an experienced design project manager, creating this spec can:
1) Lead you down a wrong path - giving too much, too little and incorrect details
2) Result in cost overruns later - as scope creep occurs because things weren't present
3) Result in significant time lag - as the project team try to figure out what you really want

If you're a pro at this, or if this is a mom and pop job, then the above should be taken with a grain of salt. But if you're gonna spend 10 or 20 grand on a new site, I'd recommend engaging someone to lead you through this phase. Their cost can be more than recouped in the money you'll save from hitting the bullseye right off the bat.

Also keep in mind that a pro can help you in vendor selection, knowing who to quickly eliminate from contention. They can also help contain the project management cost which will be part of the development cost, identify erroneous add-on services, inflated add-ons, and generally contain costs.

 

[dazfree]

Thanks WebGeek and I do agree with getting a 'pro' in if sending those kind of budgets.

I can't see my project being more than £3,000 in total, we won't be using the agencies that quote around the £80-£120 per hour mark. Therefore I will be writing the brief myself but want to be as concise as possible.

I just wanted to see if any Magento developers thought there was anything missing from the outline of the brief I have given.

Any thoughts or comments would be much appreciated.

 

[j600com]

Out of interest what's your website address?

 

[dazfree]

I would rather keep this thread geared towards writing a brief for a new Magento website rather than concentrating on a existing specific site/domain.

I did forgot about changing my design on my Wordpress blog to match the new design.

 

[sysops]

Thanks WebGeek and I do agree with getting a 'pro' in if sending those kind of budgets.

I can't see my project being more than £3,000 in total, we won't be using the agencies that quote around the £80-£120 per hour mark. Therefore I will be writing the brief myself but want to be as concise as possible.

I just wanted to see if any Magento developers thought there was anything missing from the outline of the brief I have given.

I am constantly amazed by how people who know nothing of the technical side of web development can put so much time and effort into creating a detailed spec, project timeline, payment milestones etc, then expect the job to cost £3k.

 

[dazfree]

Hi Sysops,

I have worked in a digital agency before in a senior role, had various Magento sites and projects and also worked online now for over 6 years.

Therefore I have a pretty good idea how much this project is going to cost and what is involved. Many of the tasks have pre-existing extensions available.

Thanks,

D

 

[sysops]

I have worked in a digital agency before in a senior role, had various Magento sites and projects and also worked online now for over 6 years.

Therefore I have a pretty good idea how much this project is going to cost and what is involved. Many of the tasks have pre-existing extensions available.

Let's for a minute assume that your estimate is correct (given that you are non-technical, this is a major assumption, but let's do it for now). Do you think the way you are treating this project (milestones, project management tools, requests for tender) is commensurate with its size?

It's frankly laughable.

 

[dazfree]

Maybe you have assumed this to be more formal than it is.

When I ask developers for quotes they will need a brief to give an accurate quote, they don't want to just guess a price.

Have a look at Elance (it has Escrow payments (milestone payments), Project management area (can be as basic as a place to communicate and keep attached documents)). The word 'tender' is a bit too formal I would just want to have a look at a few other Magento sites they have developed just to make sure they are capable of the job. I don't find Elance laughable do you? (https://www.elance.com/q/500M-milestone) But they provide the tools you are talking about.

This thread was about the basics of putting together a good brief to get an accurate quote, it is not about if the project is worth X amount.

 

[Hire Centre]

Coming from an It background , Quoting for work can always be tricky. On one hand , u don't want to spend to long on the quote because u may not get the job and. On the other hand if u don't ,u can be way off the mark.

Some companies charge to quote and this is where they spend their time going through ur functional spec etc but the money is recouped if they get the job.

If u go to a magneto specialist , they would be able to give u. A pretty accurate quote.
Pete

 

[Chris Fickling Design]

Type of product?

Thorough run down of how you would expect the user to interact with say, your simplest product / your most complex product?

I do think for the budget mentioned you might struggle to find a Magento developer that would provide roughs for every corner of the site. I would say the home / category and product PSDs would dictate the rest of the site look and feel including icons and buttons etc but I'd also say give the developer a slightly free reign to fill in the blanks as necessary and you may tempt a good developer to come within budget.

 

[dazfree]

Hi Ibrow, the product is men's clothing. Yes good advice on filling in the blanks on the site (e.g. checkout design, about us page etc...)

Hire Centre - I would just want a developer to look at the brief and then give a quote for it. I'm trying to get the brief as accurate as possible so would need smaller contingency amount. I'll only be getting quotes from those that can show previous experience of Magento so they should be able to poke holes in the brief etc...

 

[designinteractive]

Hi
provide your homepage so that we can go ahead.