Digital Production 101

Agenda
• Introductions
• Credentials
• The Current Market
• Billing, Estimating, and Profitability
• The Digital Production Process
• Questions and Answers

Credentials

Dailey is a full-service agency working in partnership with key
technology partners and sister IPG companies. Together, we
have with the capabilities to deliver strategic digital experiences
to help enhance the brand’s visibility and consumer interest.

Process Is Paramount

Client
signs
SOW.
Kickoff
with
all
teams
Client
chooses
/
approves
concept
Digital
Producer
creates
timeline
with
all
milestones.
SOW
created.
Production
and
development
begin
Delivery
to
media
partner Deployment
and
QA
Client
provides
brief
Concepting
and
internal
approvals
Basic Banner Process
QA
and
testing

INITIATION
Client Brief
Assignment Brief
Collect Reqs/Specs
Collect Strategic POV
Draft Brief
Team Assignments
Internal
Notification
Notify Dept. Directors
Job Opened
General Banner Process: Define and Design
CREATIVE
DEVELOPMENT
Creative Briefing
Brief Creative Team
Production to determine
if IA/Tech are required
Media Plan
Site List
Initial Specs and LCD Specs
Concept
Approved Internal Reviews
Concept
Development
Concepts
Ballpark Cost/Time
Risk Assessment:
Technical Approach
ESTIMATION Debrief
Rollout Plan:
Deliverables List
Production Schedule
Research Partners
Pre-Bid (if external)
Source Vendors
Complete Pre-Bid Docs
Pre-Bid Call
Cost
Approved
Agency and Client
signed
Estimate/SOW
Gather formal costs
Triple Bid Process (if needed)
Image Licensing
Cost review
Award
Issue PO
Internal or Vendor
Kickoff
Functional Specs
Feature Set:
User Flow
Wireframes
Technical
Requirements
Technical Specs
Technical
Approved
Client Approval
Visual Design &
Content
Design Style
Layouts
Content Deck
Prototyping
Prototyping
Visual Design
and Copy
Approved
Client Approval
Start
Production
Internal
Review
and
Client/Legal
Review
UX Discovery
Stakeholder Interviews
Requirements
Usability Study
Persona Development
User Journey
UX
VISUAL
DESIGN
Collaboration

PAID
MEDIA
PRE-­‐
PRODUCTION
PRODUCTION
Layout
Development
ApprovalLayouts
Develop One
Size
One 300x250
comp version of
each concept
One Size Review
Account, Creative
and Client
Determine
Tracking
Requirements
Files to Rich
Media
Feature Set:
User Flow
Wireframes
Approval
Client Approval
Internal QA
Check Click Tags,
Files names,
versions,
regression testing
Campaign
Live
Digital Process: Banner Production
QA,
DEPLOY
AND
LEARN
Develop All
Sizes
All concepts in all
sizes produced
Approval
Creative, Account
and Client
All Sizes Review
Account, Creative
and Client
Rich Media
Review
Account, Creative
and Client
Approval
Client Approval
Post Mortem
Site screenshots,
performance
report, process
review
Asset Collection
and Production
Trafficking
Dart/DFA

5 Steps to Success for Digital Production
1. Let each expert take care of their area of expertise.

5 Steps to Success for Digital Production
2. Working with your digital producer is your best route to success.

5 Steps to Success for Digital Production
3. Schedules and milestones are put in place to ensure the success
of a project. Any delays will quickly put success at risk.

4.
In
order
to
make
project
tracking
and
research
easier
for
everyone,
it
is
imperative
that
we
all
follow
the
same
rules
of
organization.
5 Steps to Success for Digital Production

5.
We
deliver
brilliant
creative
work
for
our
clients
by
following
process
and
communicating
with
each
other.
5 Steps to Success for Digital Production

Digital Producers: Your Best Resource

Attributes:
• Well-versed in digital production process and methodologies
• Follow the latest tech news and upcoming technologies and trends
• Understand how and why consumers use technology
• Are consummate diplomats with clients and team members alike
• Are the only team members who are involved in the process from start to finish
Digital Producers: Your Best Resource

The Current Market

The Connected Audience

Customers can be elusive, using multiple devices.
More devices means greater overall activity.
The lines between work and personal are blurred.
People cross devices for one goal.
People use multiple screens at once. Be where they expect you
to be and be relevant in that particular context.
The Connected Audience

Twitter Mission Statement:“To instantly connect people
everywhere to what’s most important to them.”
The Connected Audience

Focusing on Customer Experiences in the Post-PC Era
Invest heavily in mobile user experience and design
Beef up contextual analysis and understanding
Develop a unified customer experience strategy
Learn from market leaders
Capitalize on the uniqueness of each screen.
A consumer’s intent can be different across them all.

Points to Remember
• Customer experience has to take precedence.
• The consumer decision journey has changed radically and is
more social than ever.
• This is the Post-PC Era. Technology and the connected
consumer continue to change the face of marketing and
brands themselves.
• The brand response to customer interaction must be
fast, personal, and relevant.

New Perspective on Customer Experience
• Uncover customers’ real goals and needs
• Create seamless transitions across platforms
• Measure journeys and progress
• Think context -- always
• Test and refine as a regular habit

Billing and Profitability

“Can you give me a ballpark cost
for a new client website?”

“We’ll have Creative do some comps
before we start the estimate.”

“It’s OK. I told the client we could do it
in a month and match their budget.”

What’s Wrong?
“Can you give me a ballpark cost for a new client website?”
“We’ll have Creative do some comps before we start the estimate.”
“It’s OK. I told the client we could do it in a month and match their budget.”

• If it even smells like digital, call your digital producer.
• Invite them to every meeting. Every. Single. Meeting.
• No one should agree to a digital production project unless a producer has been
consulted and allowed ample time to provide feedback.
• Listen to their feedback and follow it to the letter.
The Rules: Set Them in Stone

Cost
Scope
Time
The Digital Production Triangle

• It guarantees that you will cover all staff participating in the project.
• It holds you to what will be promised in the SOW.
• The client will not develop any unrealistic cost expectations, which they will if you give them
“a general ballpark”.
• You will be better able to gauge department profitability across accounts.
• Your agency projections will be more accurate and better able to help you gauge where you can
bring additional key staff in house.
Accurate Estimating Pays Off

Key Points:
• Include every role that you feel will participate.
• Be fair, but be realistic: do not cut corners to match a client’s budget. You will always
lose money on that bargain.
• Understand that a client may not understand why a particular phase or task is important;
it is our job to explain it to them.
• You are doing your agency and the brand a disservice by not estimating properly.
Estimating and Profit

Key Elements:
• Describe exactly what you will deliver, when it will be delivered, and how much it will cost
• Provide carefully detailed descriptions of what is promised; this covers you and the client
• Include Terms and Conditions: payment details, arbitration parameters, and key legal
statements that protect your agency and the client’s interests
• T&C should include section about scope creep with client’s initials required
SOW: Statement of Work

Digital Production Process

• JIRA!
• Confluence
• Trello
Tool Time
• Box, Dropbox, Drive, SharePoint
• Hangouts, Skype, Slack
Test, decide, implement and use before starting projects.

Define and Discover

We don’t know what we don’t know.

Objectives:
Define the role of the website for consumers
Create the project plan to build the experience
Phase 1: Define and Discover

Create a .com experience that…
• Complements the current marketing initiatives
• Delivers an elegant and simple user experience for the target audience
• Works seamlessly across desktop and mobile
• Is easy to update
• Drives sales with every retail partner
WEBSITE OBJECTIVES

Create an experience that…
• Thumb-friendly
• Adapts to various screen resolutions
• Works seamlessly across devices
• Reflects the most important information for mobile users
• Integrates with current branding initiatives
MOBILE OBJECTIVES

Outputs:
• Discovery Report:
• Stakeholder findings
• Competitor findings
• Research findings
• Personas and scenarios
• Initial recommendation for features
and functionality of the
new site experience
Phase 1: Define and Discover
• Comprehensive Project Plan:
• Business Requirements Doc (BRD)
• Functional Requirements Doc
• Technical requirements
• Timeline for all deliverables
• Editorial plan
• SOW and Budget for Phases 2, 3, 4

Objectives:
• Gain agreement with stakeholders
• Provide a foundation to communicate to a technology partner what the solution
needs to do to satisfy the users’ and business’ needs
• Provide input for the next phase
• Describe how these needs will be met by the solution
BRD: Business Requirements Document

Objectives:
• Describe how the system or solution will work
• Focuses on how users will interact with the system or solution
• Purpose: How each team knows what needs to be built and tested
• Process: How it will be developed, who will do it, and when
• Methods: Technical diagrams, flowcharts, functionality descriptions
Func Reqs: Functional Requirements

Design Phase

• “Design is the conscious and intuitive effort to impose meaningful order.”
— Victor Papanek, Design for the Real World
• Design is about planning what to build before you build it (especially when it’s
expensive or dangerous to get it wrong).
• Design allows room for exploration.
• Design requires collaboration with the builders.
Thoughts on Design

Phase 2: UX and Design
Objective:
Create the user experience and the design of the site

Phase 2: UX and Design
Pro Tip:
Do not start by making pretty pictures that make the client smile.

Activities:
• Persona development and customer journey(s) development
• Wireframe development
• Visual design and copy development based on the approved wireframes
Phase 2: UX and Design

Outputs:
• User personas
• Site map
• Annotated wireframes
• Design Elements
• Mood boards
• Design for key pages and elements
• Style Guide
• Copy deck for all pages of the site
Phase 2: UX and Design

Do it right the first time,
or pay the consequences
Return On Investment

Emotional Engagement
People will look to comfort, variety, connection, and
uniqueness as the hallmarks of a good experience.

IA/UX:
It starts with the user. Dedication to detail begins with clearly defining the business
requirements for the project, doing consumer research, and developing a clear framework for the
interface before creating visual experience that will assist, guide and benefit the user.

WHAT IS
UX?

WHAT IS
USER
EXPERIENCE?

DONALD NORMAN
“User experience
encompasses all aspects
of the end-user’s
interaction with the
company, its services,
and its products.”

WE ALL INSTINCTIVELY
KNOW WHAT
GOOD UX
LOOKS LIKE…

WE ALL INSTINCTIVELY
KNOW WHAT
BAD UX
LOOKS LIKE…

UX IS MORE THAN UI

UX IS MORE THAN USABILITY

DESIGN THINKING

Development Phase

Objective:
Bring the creative design direction together with the technology platform,
code the site and ensure content management and publishing
processes are aligned
Phase 3: Develop

DEVELOP
Build the project Check quality & accuracy
Test on dev servers Test again and verify
Phase 3: Develop

Phase 3: Develop
Activities:
• Content creation and development
• Technical coding and development
• Technical platform testing
• Content integration

Outputs:
• Development of all content for new site
• Technical coding and content management system integration
• E-Commerce integration
• Bug list and resolutions
• Technical annotations for CMS/code
• Technical and functional user acceptance testing (UAT)
Phase 3: Develop

A member of your dev team should be included throughout the entire
project process from pitch to deployment.
This helps prevent over-promising and aids in planning the level of effort.
Pro Tip

Front-End Development

Back-End Development

Analytics

Pro Tip:
When possible
have some
expertise in-house
so you can tackle
issues when they
arise.

• Ramp up
• Develop features
• Test along the way
• Apply Visuals
• Add SEO & Analytics
• Test Again
• Send to QA
Typical Process

Deployment Phase

DEPLOY
Send it live to the world Continue to QA
Fix bugs that occur Plan for maintenance
Phase 4: Deploy

Activities:
• Knowledge transfer
• Production readiness and migration
• Supporting documentation
• Post mortem
• Next steps
Phase 4: Deploy

Outputs:
• Site launch and production support including and production bug resolution
• Content management system documentation
• Editorial/content planning documentation
• Project review, pros and cons through post-mortem
Phase 4: Deploy

Final Thoughts
Users want a seamless, personalized experience across
platforms and environments.

Final Thoughts
Consumer empathy will help ensure that each digital
experience remains relevant to their needs.

Final Thoughts
Following process and best practices leads to
client satisfaction and agency profitability.

Don Lupo
dlupo@daileyideas.com
www.daileyideas.com
310.360.3622