A million things going to and fro. Client requests and team member questions coming from every which way. Technology changing by the second. Days moving at the speed of light.
Does the constant state of chaos sound familiar? Been there, done that. Then came process.
Without process, you’re running around with your hair on fire, wasting precious time, energy and resources, while never feeling like you’ve truly accomplished something. After spending the better part of 12 months developing our creative agency process (in painstaking detail), we’ve come to the conclusion that PROCESS IS EVERYTHING. Within the process, freelance your ass off. But our process is our guiding light. Certain projects require certain exceptions, but our established process provides guidance and balance. With it, we’ve achieved remarkable efficiency, more valuable use of our time and team members, improved feedback loops, quick problem solving, and a general sense of calm and organization that we wouldn’t have otherwise.
Process has allowed us to unlock the power of creativity while delivering results. It allows our teams to focus their time and energy on productive tasks while improving their creative practice.
But let’s get one thing straight – We’re not that agency that says we “Research, Design, then Deliver”. If only it were that easy. We like to call that the “interview answer” because there’s so much more to it than that.
Where do we start…
First, we laid the ground rules – The creative process is not linear and it is constantly changing, so locking ourselves into rigidity wasn’t an option. But, process doesn’t have to mean rigidity. To us, it’s simply a detailed pathway to achieving success for our clients, our team, and the end users by utilizing the tools we have at our fingertips – excellent strategy, design, development, content, and video.
So, we started with a marker and a whiteboard, walking in the steps of any potential client, mapping out our journey of interaction and the actions executed by our team in order to present deliverables and accomplish objectives. Over the course of weeks, we eventually noted every action that was required to complete a project. Throughout the following months, we refined and analyzed each and every step in the process to clearly define it, discuss challenges, and document a prescribed method moving forward.
The resulting document is our sacred process.
Organized into phases that signify the major periods throughout a client relationship at Ignite XDS, our process details the actions required at every stage – From the first interaction with a client, to scope development, execution, testing, launch and beyond. In harmony with our guiding principles, once we establish a defined plan and solution for a client partner, we kick into agile development mode. Each week throughout a project, we’re working to design, write, develop, and document, the deliverables required within each phase of our project process. Through team lead meetings and project SCRUMS, we achieve the necessary transparency to ensure we’re on time and on budget, while maintaining consistent communication with our client partner to ensure our team is on the same page with yours.
The time invested in developing our agency creative process is priceless, because not only does it provide our clients a big-picture-overview of how we “get the job done”, but it also details the workflow within every department in our organization, which is fundamental to the success of our teams.
Shaping a solid workflow within an agency that is constantly evolving (which is no easy feat by the way), is incredibly important for both our team members and our clients, and the success, happiness, and inclusion we all feel. Dedicating resources and efforts to the development of a solid system that delivers a structured workflow was and continues to be, critical because it takes an experience that is exceptionally complicated, and simplifies it so that both our team and your team find it enjoyable and rewarding.
It’s about being technical, strategic, agile, and creative – you can plan all you want but we’re all human in a creative industry – things change. Process allows us to achieve deadline and budget constraints while delivering an experience that is nothing like what you expected.
When you work with us, your mission becomes ours.
We’ve developed a process to focus your goals, budget, and human nature in the most impactful way possible.
We’re not in the business of losing. Our process helps us win.
