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Ulanji and its two predecessor companies have designed and produced hundreds of websites over the last six years. (For recent examples see clients.) Since the advent of the Ulanji n-jine 1.0 in August of 2000, our focus has been on building websites that can be effectively managed by our clients.
Unlike most "design shops," Ulanji starts a project by looking at the desired end result: customer interaction, leads, online sales, etc. Then we apply our knowledge of how visitors use websites and how visitors find sites in the first place. Design, then, is a step in the process, but most definitely not an end in itself.
This understanding of what makes websites successful, allows us to use the functionality of our n-jine to improve both the experience of the visitor and the site's "manageability" to the client. An unchanging, non-functional site will not elicit a response from visitors. A site too intricately designed will be too difficult to maintain for its owner. If the owner fails to maintain the site, visitors will stop coming and new visitors will no longer be able to find the site. It's an unattractive circle we've born witness to in the past, and one that our n-jine, used properly, can help us avoid.
This knowledge has been obtained through experience - 60 plus websites and more than 150 microsites since version 1.0 was released in August of 2000. With each project we learn more about all facets of website development:
- Pricing - the n-jine typically gives us a significant pricing advantage.
- Scheduling - we spend less time in design and virtually no time in programming. This allows us to spend more time on issues like flow charting and content organization.
- Design - we create under the pressure of knowing that a website has less than 10 seconds to tell its story. Until broadband is pervasive, fancy animations and image heavy designs will not succeed.
- Production - this is where we make the greatest strides, putting into use the tools our programmers have developed.
- Project Management - whether its a first site or a tenth, content is the bane of every client. The nice thing about our technology is that you do not have to have every bit of content before launch.
Given all this experience, we are still not perfect. Projects can drag on, though mostly due to content collection issues. Initial designs can miss the mark, though we are almost always able to regroup. Training may take longer than anticipated, though we have not yet failed to teach a client.
Through it all we believe we serve our clients well. We meet and exceed expectations far more often than the reverse. And finally, we try to de-mystify the process. E-business can absolutely improve your regular business, but only if you, the website owner, understand how and why.
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See Also:
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Production
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Simple starter websites can be built in hours. Larger, more complex websites need time and careful planning.
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