Resources
Field notes for the site office.
Ten short notes we hand to clients before a project starts. They are free to use whether or not you work with us.
- Planning
Write the problem before the feature list
List the three things a user must be able to do on day one. Everything else is a candidate for later. A short list makes estimates honest and testing possible.
- Planning
Decide what “done” means
Agree measurable signs of completion, such as “a new customer can book in under two minutes”. Without them, projects drift.
- Design
Test with five people, not fifty
Watching a handful of representative users attempt real tasks with a prototype reveals most major usability problems cheaply.
- Design
Accessibility is a design input
Check colour contrast, focus order, text size and touch target size during design. Retrofitting accessibility costs far more.
- Release
Prepare store listings early
Screenshots, descriptions, age ratings and privacy declarations take longer than expected. Draft them while the app is still being built.
- Release
Plan for review rejection
Store reviews can reject builds for missing account deletion, unclear permissions text or broken links. Keep time in the schedule for a resubmission.
- Privacy
Map the data you collect
Write down each item of personal data, why you need it, where it is stored and when it is deleted. It forms the basis of your privacy notice under UK GDPR.
- Privacy
Do not add tracking by habit
Analytics and advertising tools often need consent under PECR. If you do not need them, leaving them out is simpler for everyone.
- IT help
Keep an access register
Record who holds domain, hosting, email and store accounts, and keep recovery details current. Lost access is a common and avoidable crisis.
- IT help
Write a good support request
Include what you expected, what happened, when, on which device or browser, and any error text. It shortens every fix.