Sharpen your axe drupal concph 2010

VPS.net25. aug 17:15

Sharpen your Axe- How We Reduced Development Time by more than 80%

Richard Jones

Wednesday, 25 August 2010

Some Context

• Richard Jones

• Technical Director of i-KOS, UK Digital Agency

• Working with CMS since 1999

• @richardjones


My CMS Journey

• 2000-2001 Cable & Wireless NCompass Resolution (now Microsoft CMS)

• 2002 - 2007 i-KOS SiteSolved, proprietary J2EE

• 2008 - Enlightenment


Our Early Experiences

• Welcome to Drupal 6

• The Learning Curve

• 1 requirement, 1000 possible solutions

• The Drupal Way (and why some Drupal Contractors are better than others)


Our Early Drupal Sites

• Took longer to implement

• Were difficult to maintain

• Used different techniques and modules

• Were confusing for Site Owners

• Were generally disappointing


How We Used to Do Things

• Design / PSDs

• Web Kit

• Build Structure

• Content

• Testing

• Training / Support


What Really Happened

• Design / PSDs

• Web Kit

• Build Structure

• Rework Webkit to make it work in CMS

• Rework Design to work around limitations of CMS

• Multiple Loops of Above


Time for a Reboot


The Opportunity to Change Everything

• Not limited to the technology

• Design and User Experience

• Process of Selling

• Development

• Training / End User Experience


Consider Every Role

• Designer (Visual and UX)

• Developer

• Themer

• Site Owner

• Site End User

• Trainer

• Business Development

• Sys Admin


Common Causes of Project Slippage

Scope CreepUnclear RequirementsImpractical DesignCommunicationContent


“The System”

• Complexity

• Estimated Saving

• Learning Curve

• Resistance

• Overall Benefit


Design to a Grid

• Multidivisional - 12 / 16 / 24

• Consistency

• Speed of Production

• Doesn’t have to limit design scope

Design to a Grid (960)

Complexity Medium

Estimated Saving High

Learning Curve Short

Resistance Medium

Overall Benefit High


Develop a Toolkit

• Admit the Truth

• Focus on most common requirements

• Get them right without pressure

• Dedicated R&D even better

Develop a Toolkit

Complexity High

Estimated Saving Huge!


Resistance Low



• Sales control the project scope

• Now you have a toolkit, sell it!

• Features you don’t have will always cost more than a client wants to pay

• Even if “there’s a module for that”

• Easier to price jobs

Selling Out of the Box

Sell out of the Box

Complexity Low



Resistance High



Reverse the Workflow

• Design LAST!

• Design to the prototype

• Prepare the client


Complexity Low

Estimated Saving Medium

Learning Curve Medium

Resistance Extreme



Evolutionary Prototype

• Parallel Running

• Allows customer to add content before design

• Work out kinks in user experience before theming

• Test functionality


Complexity Medium



Resistance Medium



The StartPoint

• Start with a great site from install

• Turn off features you don’t need

• Stop repeating yourself

The StartPoint

Complexity Medium



Resistance Medium



Focus on the Site Owner

• Build from the beginning with the site owner in mind

• Consider how site can be maintained

• Make Drupal invisible

• Real Users don’t care about the technology

Site Owner Experience

Complexity High


Learning Curve High

Resistance Low



Select Your Team

• Different Skills Required

• Less Technical

• More Business Savvy

Pick the Team

Complexity High



Resistance Medium



Putting it TogetherDesign to a Grid (960)

Complexity Medium

Estimated Saving 30%


Resistance Medium


Develop a Toolkit

Complexity High



Resistance Low


Sell out of the Box

Complexity Low



Resistance High



Complexity Low



Resistance Extreme



Complexity Medium

Estimated Saving 30-40%


Resistance Medium


The StartPoint

Complexity Medium

Estimated Saving 30-40%


Resistance Medium


Site Owner Experience

Complexity High


Learning Curve High

Resistance Low


Pick the Team

Complexity High



Resistance Medium



Live Demo


So where does the 80% come in?


http://cph2010.drupal.org/node/13103


http://cph2010.drupal.org/survey/42

http://cph2010.drupal.org/survey/42

Sharpen your axe drupal concph 2010

Technology

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