Buying web renewal projects. Two different approaches: a) prototype first, b) MVP first.

1. Buying a web
renewal project
North Patrol Oy 2014 / 2014-05-13 / Helsinki1
Perttu Tolvanen, Web & CMS Expert, @perttutolvanen

2. © 2014 North Patrol Oy2
Advisor in web renewal
- Helps clients in choosing
partners, selecting technologies
and competitive bidding
- Independent of digital agencies
and systems suppliers
- Helsinki-based, but most clients
operate in Northern Europe /
Scandinavia / Russia

3. Agenda
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Buyer's
pains
Fix the concept
through a
prototype
Version 1.0 of
the service
quickly live
Two different approaches to a renewal project
A B

4. Buyer's pains
• Between a rock and a hard place…
– Own management wants results at a fixed price, quickly and with high quality…
– Project manager worries about resource sufficiency…
– Yet partners only talk about agility and the hell of fixed pricing…
• Everyone agrees design and implementation must not be separated…
– But where are partners both Marketing and IT can accept?
• Development of the web has again placed digital agencies into focus…
– But where are the digital agencies that can successfully implement large projects and
even have competencies for the technologies they choose?
– … and if only someone else were using those technologies in this country…
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5. The world has become clearer…
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Web service
Web forms, small
apps etc.
"Extranet"
services
("anything that
requires login")
- … but still, many times even the
web service is something special
and the basic functions of a CMS
are not enough.
- For example, communities and
large online stores are typically
challenging.
- Sometimes, extranet services
require a CMS as their platform.
These are usually two separate
worlds. One is on a CMS, the
other more or less a
customized entity.
+ online store

6. Two different starting points
• "We are building something totally new and magnificent.“
• "We require top-class design, something awesome!“
• "We want to test with users, and commit our organization to the project."
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• "We know pretty well what we want."
• "We want to go live quickly, then use feedback for improvement."
• "We want to buy design and implementation from the same supplier."
Big expect-
ations for
the design
phase
Expect-
ations focus
on results
A
B

7. Two different projects
• Concept along "the long road", up to an HTML prototype. Two bidding rounds, two partners.
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• Lightweight concept and project requirements definition. One bidding round, one partner.
Preparation:
renewal ideas,
goals, restrictions
Concept design: results in
an HTML prototype
Implementation with
model suggested by
selected partner
Big expect-
ations for
the design
phase
Expect-
ations focus
on resultsPreparation: preliminary
concept, goals, restrictions, functi
onal requirements, technology
selection
Implementation with model suggested by
selected partner
A
B

8. Technology selection milestones
• Concept along "the long road", up to an HTML prototype. Two bidding rounds, two partners.
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• Lightweight concept and project requirements definition. One bidding round, one partner.
Preparation:
renewal ideas,
goals, restrictions
Concept design: results in
an HTML prototype
Implementation with
model suggested by
selected partner
Big expect-
ations for
the design
phase
Expect-
ations focus
on resultsPreparation: preliminary
concept, goals, restrictions, functi
onal requirements, technology
selection
Implementation with model suggested by
selected partner
A
B

9. Summary
1. Forget layouts and long wireframe documents
2. Make the design phase properly long, or really short
3. Big choice: Do you first want an HTML prototype for collecting feedback from
users and your organization, OR, do you want to go live quickly with a 1.0 version
(in Minimum Viable Product spirit)?
4. If you opt for long design, you can buy the first-phase implementation even at a
fixed price—but don't dictate the implementation model
5. Short design inspires goal-based buying, for which agile methods are
philosophically a good fit
6. Plan the incentive/control system for a goal-based model according to your own
participation resources
– The 50/50/50 model is a good starting point, but there are other viable models
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10. North Patrol Oy 2014 / www.northpatrol.com10
Thank you.

11. Contact information
NorthPatrol Oy11
Perttu Tolvanen
Web & CMS Expert, Partner
North Patrol Oy
+358 50 368 5199
perttu.tolvanen@northpatrol.com
@perttutolvanen
www.northpatrol.com

12. Advisor in buying web projects
North Patrol Oy12
We’ll find you a web project
solution that fits your needs -
not something that’s
convenient for a vendor to
build.
More information:
www.northpatrol.com
Our main focus is at the critical
stages of project
planning, defining
requirements and selecting the
best partners. Additionally we
support the implementation
and assess the results.
North Patrol is your expert in
selecting the best vendors and
technologies for your next web
project.
We are an independent
consulting company without
ties to system vendors, and
can help select the best
implementation plan and
vendor to save you headaches
in the long run.

13. North Patrol Oy13
BUYER´S GUIDE TO WEB
PROJECTS
www.northpatrol.com/blog