It’s a way for farmers to manage hand-picked crop harvesting and payroll by counting buckets using their iPhones, then generating reports from the web app.

Nothing else exists like it right now, so farmers have been using any number of archaic means to get buckets tallied for the day – from poker chips to hand-tallies to Excel spreadsheets.  Whether inefficient or inaccurate, the counts have always been contentious and the pickers have always had reason to distrust the system.

Until now.

I spent the day in the blueberry fields of Polk County today, watching our app in action as the farmer with whom we’re building the app started his spring harvest.

These berries are not quite ready to pick – obviously.

But these are almost ripe and ready.

When the farmer has enough berries on the bushes to pick – even if it’s not all of them – he starts hiring pickers to pull them off.

It all starts with entering the pickers into the system.  This usually happens at the beginning of the season, and today was their big sign-up day.

We added pickers straight from the iOS app today.  The truck is the mobile “office” that moves around the field with the pickers as they harvest.

When the farmer adds pickers, they assign an ID number that coordinates with a QR code on their ID badge.

After they’re added to the system, they start picking berries.

When they fill up a bucket or two – or three – they bring them to the truck and dump them into the lugs.  One bucket on each side.

Here’s where our app comes in:  the pickers get paid per bucket - so we needed a way to quickly add buckets (“picks”) to a picker’s daily total and get them back into the field.  During heavy picking weeks, there can be 20 or 40 pickers standing in line to dump their berries and get back out there.

Speed is essential.  Language is an issue.  Remedy?  QR codes and a touch-screen bucket add screen.

We scan the code, which pulls up the picker’s name and ID, then type in the number of buckets.

Save, and scan the next badge.

It was a beautiful field to be working in – and truly the most authentic user experience I could’ve hoped for in which to test our app’s performance.

We ran into a few bugs which we quickly fixed and I was able to determine where our bottlenecks in process and flow are.  Instead of watching server logs and data, I was able to watch the farmers when the scanner wouldn’t read, find out if the QR was too small or see if the pickers were wearing their badges appropriately.  I saw how they worked around or with the features and functions we’d built into the app, and found out what they want to be able to do with it next year.

The experiential data gathered today – through observation and interviews – was invaluable. The field conditions are indeed a different user experience than anything we’ve encountered before, and seeing it first hand is the only way I think we could’ve really understood and optimized the app before we launch.

Oh – and did I mention we were picking blueberries?  Fresh, juicy and literally just off the bush?  Cows and horses wandering in the yards on either side of us.  Bugs buzzing and biplanes cruising above us.  The crack of a shotgun as a farmer tries to scare birds out of the field.  Our office pales in comparison.

Clients want:  an awesome website, with cutting edge design, breathtaking interface, goal-oriented content strategy and oh – it has to work. You want your input to be considered. It also has to be cheap and done tomorrow.

We want: a portfolio piece, time to try new techniques and methods (responsive design or HTML5, for instance), cutting edge design, to be trusted for our expertise, to be compensated according to the value of our talents, breathtaking interface, goal-oriented content strategy, and enough time to do our best work.

While there are certainly a lot of common goals, you can see there are some conflicts.

I’m working hard on finding a way to resolve these conflicts, but I don’t think there’s a perfect solution.

My colleagues in this industry all tend to work differently: either by project basis, by the hour, or on retainer. And they all complain about why what they’re doing isn’t working or what’s making the relationships tenuous.  Some of them ditch client work all together and head to app development.

At Big Sea, we love – and thrive – on client relationships.  We love collaborative building processes – seeing the fruits of your domain knowledge with our design and development expertise coming to being.  It’s at once thoroughly fulfilling and unbelievably frustrating. It’s rewarding, annoying, pushing-and-pulling, testing and trying.  It’s so much fun.

Every project – and yes, I mean every, single, project – has very different needs. Sure, some overlap with regard to design or development, but the relationship – the number of emails, the phone calls, the level of input from us or trust from the client – that’s all different every. single. time.

Everyone asks for the same thing:  easy to use, elegant, simple.  Yet, every single website looks very, very different.  Every web app has varying levels of complexity; every blog needs different levels of customization.   Some of you are perfectly happy with Thesis out-of-the-box and just want some great fonts and a header;  some of you want to look totally different than anyone else and demand a completely customized layout.

It changes.  Constantly.  That’s the nature of the process and in my opinion, it’s what makes good websites awesome.  

The ability to adjust on-the-fly to improve a project or rethink our initial approach is vital to the creative process, and it’s severely limited when we bill on a project basis and simply want to get the work done so we can invoice.  We very rarely work on a project basis.

We choose to work on an hourly basis (and provide estimates as accurately as possible) because it allows the fluid process of building a website to remain fluid.  We tell our clients that we bill “hourly and honestly.”  We track our time using Toggl and literally charge per minute (we don’t round up) because that’s what feels right.

If we estimated your site would take 35 hours but you decide to add some neat functionality or want to rework the header three times, we don’t feel slighted by doing additional work.  If we estimated your site would take 35 hours and you fall in love with our first-crack mockup and green light every decision we make together, you don’t feel slighted by paying for the worst-case-scenario.

But hourly isn’t always the best choice for emergencies – and they will pop up – or for engaging us to improve and grow your site or app.  A third-party plugin will go down, a server will misbehave, or an upgrade will be necessary.  You’ll find usability snags or want to increase speed inside the app.   In these cases, we usually engage in retainers or prebilled hours at a reduced hourly rate.

When we work hourly, we are happy to work on your project as long as it fits into our schedule. When we’re on retainer, we can be emergency designers.  We’re committed to the growth and optimization of your web presence. When we work on retainer, we’re happy to make sure that time is a part of our schedule when you need it because we know it’s coming.

Our clients tend to enjoy retainers because they can be guaranteed that we’ll be spending a set amount of hours each month on their projects without any surprises – and they enjoy a reduced hourly rate.  We can make staffing and project commitments without hesitation. And we can both work together throughout the month to build a better website, design incredible brand pieces, build a stronger social media platform, create a stellar email campaign, improve search engine rankings and of course, optimize everything for killer site performance.   Retainers rock – for everyone involved.

That said, I don’t think that retainers are the perfect solution for every client and project.  I think we’ll always have a mix of hourly and retainer-based clients, and there will always be a level of unpredictability in workload and project planning.  Keeps me on my toes, if nothing else.

I know I’m not the first one to contemplate the client-agency relationship.  Our industry is still young (10ish years?) and still pushing boundaries and establishing best practices.  We’ve been operating on a traditional advertising agency model, but I think there’s got to be a better way.

Now it’s your turn:  if you’re a client, what do you honestly think of the hourly billing model?  What do you think of retainers?  What do you suggest as a fair and reasonable approach to billing for our time/work and being available to meet your needs in emergency situations?

And it hit me: we are not emergency designers.  We never have been.  We ask tough questions and spend time in discovery and research.  We dig and dig before we ever start designing.  We make recommendations.  We’re not “yes” people; we’re “why” people.  When you tell us your website needs a feature, we don’t just agree; we ask why. Then we push you (and ourselves) to dig up a better answer or provide a foundation to back up your request.

And yet, we end up “hurrying up” more often then I’d like.  We tend to take on emergency projects even though they don’t fit our general mold of process and project management.

It’s not that we can’t build a site quickly; we certainly can.  It’s more along the lines of our initial approach to a project.  Once we get to the design and development stage, we’ve already done our due diligence and the process can fly. But we like to know we got there with good reason and research.  We like to know the stakeholders are all on board with what we’re about to produce, and we like to know that every conversation that needs to be had has been had.

We’ve had a virtual onslaught of new project inquiries in the past few weeks.  And that’s a great thing, of course. We’ve been working hard on great projects and launched this gorgeously redesigned site and have been out writing, speaking and getting to know folks. Our clients give us fantastic referrals to everyone and anyone. We’re busy and loving it.

Of the new inquiries, a handful are really great, qualified, well-fitting projects for our team. Clients who want us to spend the time digging and learning and researching before we build; who want us to labor over the details and create really polished, beautiful web and mobile apps.  Who want us to thoroughly test the products before they launch.

And another handful are looking for “emergency” designers to take over a project that went south or start on something immediately that was supposed to be done last week (I need this 200 hour project launched by mid-February!).

Next time you have an emergency, open this box.

To these emergency clients, how fast we can get them a proposal reflects on how fast we can turn the project around – when in fact, the two are not at all related.  We need time to spend doing our research before creating a proposal. We need time to determine the best platform and approach and our own resource assignments.  It’s a complex matrix and it all takes time to do it well.

That said, we’ve taken on quite a few projects that weren’t going well and turned them around – but those clients recognized that the process would take both time and hard work.  They brought us realistic expectations and we turned out some awesome work.

It’s amazing when expectations meet reality, isn’t it?

I’m feeling liberated in this realization.  It’s yet another “red flag” for my arsenal of client selection tools that help us determine fit for new projects, and a step forward in solidifying our approach to design and development.

Do you find yourself providing emergency design services?  How to you react and how do those relationships turn out?

Starting a new year is a great time to start working on new limits, new approaches and new systems for your business and your life.  So, our intentions are as follows:

For the business:

1. Move to a more client-centric design approach by building partnership agreements rather than one-off build contracts.
2. Make it all responsive. Or at least adaptive. There is no excuse for fixed-width any more.
3. Learn more, and more and more. Every Friday afternoon is designated self-improvement day. That means learning through tutorials or videos, reading or working on personal projects.

Andi‘s intentions

1. More personal communication; less email. Talk it out. Touch base and catch up. Plan regularly scheduled phone calls with all ongoing development projects.  Travel if necessary for kickoff and important milestone meetings. Go the extra mile.
2. Give back to the community. Speak more; attend more meet-ups; finish the book I’ve started writing three different times.  Share my knowledge more.
3. Plan better. Stick to an organized, well-structured project planning approach and spend more time on thorough contracts with detailed SOW agreements.

Charlene’s intentions

1. Go responsive. Just dig in and make it responsive. It’s not exactly a brand new concept. Just do it already.
2. Get Sass(y). CSS is awesome and SASS just adds MORE awesomeness. We all need something new and fresh in our lives sometimes–this is it.

Jessica’s intentions

1. Better time management. Follow the schedules and to-do lists I make, but don’t use nearly enough. Say “no” more, prioritize better and spend less time browsing the wonders of the internets.
2. Write more. I’d be happy if I wrote about just about anything at this point as long as it’s more significant than emails, texts and Facebook updates.
3. Move quicker. Send the stupid email, don’t stare at it in Drafts for an hour. Get things out of “planning” and into “production” faster.

James’s intentions

1. Give back more. Finish the next version of one open source project, start another one, and help others with theirs. Use GitHub to interact, not just for versioning things.
2. Play and learn more. Tinker with new technology on a weekly basis. Watch more screencasts. Read more books. Always have a podcast handy.
3. Take over the world. Muahahahaahaaaa!

Keith‘s intentions

1. Find a balance between efficiency and properly documented code/projects.  We work in a client driven business – budgets and timeframes conspire to sacrifice the proper documentation of code and projects for on time delivery. this year i want to find more of a balance – a few extra hours documenting code will make future updates easier and save time in the long run
2. Take more pictures! My hobbies shift from year to year and I’ve been ignoring this one for too long. I want to shoot more panorama shots of the downtown St. Pete area. Here’s one that i took in Charleston.
3. Work on pace.  Ever hear the old saying “start out like you can hold out”?  I’m going to work on applying that this year. Too often, I procrastinate; looking for motivation to tackle a big project and then code in a burst. I’ve found that if I work steadily, but more slowly, I can get more accomplished because I end up turning out more code.

Now you’ve seen ours and you can hold us accountable (seriously – hold us accountable!).  What are your professional intentions for the year?

We spend plenty of time supporting older browsers and this document will help make the argument that it’s not time well spent.

“We know the direction that browser support is heading and want to build you a website that will stand the test of time.”

If you’re a client wondering why the final product you see on your screen doesn’t match exactly the gorgeous flattened mockup we gave you months ago, read this Factsheet- Where are my rounded corners.

Each project, each client, each relationship teaches me more about how best to do what we do.  This sort of list helps me solidify my values and incorporate them into my business practice more effectively than making resolutions. Here are a few of the lessons I learned last year.

1. The reason it’s not being done isn’t because it’s not worth doing – it just hasn’t been done!
   Success in business does not mean success on the web – and you don’t need success on the web to run a successful business.  This dichotomy throws off newcomers who have great, creative web strategies and know that it could be a worthwhile tool – but doubt themselves because the “big guys” aren’t already doing it.  The “big guys” are resting on what’s worked in the past and the strength of their reputation;  newcomers have a bit more to prove.   And, who knows, a really successful web strategy might help you overtake those big guys one day anyway.
2. If it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it’s a duck. Building websites forces a pretty intense relationship between the clients and our team.  If the vibe between us is questionable or the project seems off-kilter from the very beginning, as it often does, it’s best to walk away.  Unrealistic expectations, unclear direction, even very specific direction and ‘I know exactly what I want.’  All red flags that require patience and effective communication from both parties.    I’ve learned over and over this year to say no when I see that a project just isn’t going to be right for us, when the red flags are raised from the start.
3. Successful web design is a collaboration between client goals and our best efforts. I used to get upset when  a client wanted to make changes to my designs or had revisions that I didn’t agree with (I still do sometimes).  It took a few really great collaborations (and unlikely compromises) to make me realize my error in that pride.The most successful websites are those that combine the personality and values of the client with the research and guidance from our team.  There are some things we’re happy to compromise on and others where we’ll stand our ground.  Clients need to put their stamp on their project – those irksome changes are often the essence and individuality necessary to make the project great.  We work almost exclusively with business owners, and the pride and passion they have for what they do needs to shine through in their design.  I’ve learned to let go where it doesn’t matter and fight for what does.

What are some important lessons you learned in 2010 that you want to apply to your business or life or career in 2011?

This post is the first in a series entitled “The Anatomy of a Website” that will help shed light on the Big Sea process of building a website – both complex and simple – from start to finish.  While the process differs slightly from project to project, I intend to explain the basic building blocks of a successful website design and development project so that you’ll have a better understanding of the planning, research, thought, work and of course, costs involved.

Let’s start from the beginning then, shall we?

The Discovery Process

You’ve just called and talked to us about starting work on your website.  You obviously have questions about what we do, how we do it and the most important question of all:  how much does it cost.  You probably got a rough idea of those answers through that initial phone conversation.  Maybe you’ve gone through this before with another web studio or maybe you’ve talked to a friend who’s worked with us before.  Either way, the seed is planted.

The next step is simple:  we need to learn as much as possible about your business goals, marketing objectives, industry, competitors and marketplace.  About where you want to go.  About your staffing and content production intentions.  About who you are and where you’ve been.  We need to know.

We start this process with our Discovery Document (.docx).  (Feel free to print and use this for any other marketing or design firms you might be working with – they’re really helpful questions that guide our design, strategic direction and proposal).  Take your time with this and be as thorough as possible.

After you return this document, we’ll spend some time reviewing it.  We visit the websites you’ve shared, we’ll study your competitors, read up on your industry, assess your peers, get familiar with your business objectives and follow up with any questions we might have.

Give us some time here.  I know you’re eager to find out how much this project is going to cost, but wouldn’t you rather know that we’ve done our homework and that our estimate is thoroughly researched?  We’re working on other projects too, with deadlines, so we’ll need a little space.  I generally take a week for simple proposals or ten days to two weeks for larger proposals.

Depending on the scope of the project, the Discovery Document might provide all we need to create a formal proposal.  If your project is a big development project or a much larger site, this document is just the springboard for our much more thorough planning stages that precede any formal estimates.

Goals Analysis and Strategic Objectives

Through conversations and the Discovery Document, we’ll establish recommendations for your site’s main communication goals.  Are you trying to book appointments, make a sale, increase foot traffic to your store or encourage customer contact?  Do you want to increase brand awareness or build credibility and expertise?  The goals we determine as priority and secondary will determine the structure of your website and help us create clear calls to action (CTAs).

With each goal, we establish clear strategies, objectives and then web-based tactics that we can use to help guide design and development decisions.   We can also outline measurable analytic goals to assess your site performance, like increasing site visitors, decreasing bounce rates or increasing time spent on your website.

Here’s an example of a goal from a recent project’s planning phase (this was one of 3 main site goals that guided our design process):

Goal:  Create awareness of our commitment to social responsibility.
Strategy:   Demonstrate our community involvement
Objective: Communicate social actions more effectively.
Website Tactics:

• Create organization and site-specific calendars of events to show all of the events in which we take part.
• Use blog to document specific causes and events with which you’re involved.
• Create feature area on homepage for causes and events; unique to each location and overall.
• Use the website to create hubs of information for flagship events and causes.
• Use email to invite participation and spread awareness.

Of course, each goal has multiple accompanying strategies, objectives and tactics.  This can get pretty long, but it’s helpful to steer the process and help us trim the fat later in the project.

The goals document is a work-in-progress at this point.  We’ll share it with you and work together to refine it with realistic tactics until we’re sure that all of the bases have been covered.  This process can take a few weeks and few long conversations.

All this and we haven’t even started building your website … But oh, there’s more.   After we agree on goals for your site, we talk through and negotiate strategies and tactics, then we start on content analysis and wireframes.  Stay tuned!

Next week:  Content analysis & planning, wireframes

You’re a small business owner, and you know that you need to use Facebook for promotion. You might even have a fan page already built.  But are you using it to its fullest potential? What are you leaving on the table, and how can you maximize the very little time in your day to get the most out of your social media marketing?

It’s important to understand  how, when, where and why using social media makes sense and what impact using them will have on your business.

Join us for lunch at Three Birds Tavern (pardon the music) on Tuesday, March 23 to learn:

• What to post and what not to post – and when
• How to make – and keep – fans
• Creative ideas for engaging your fans
• Why and why not to use Facebook ads
• How to translate fans into sales

Where:  Three Birds Tavern
When: Tuesday, March 23, 2010 at 12:00 pm
How much: $15 for paid LS1 members / $20 non-members / $25 at the door
(includes lunch, drink and tip + 45 minute workshop and discussion time)

Register in advance at LocalShops1.com »