Hiring a New Web Design Agency?

This on-boarding checklist will save you money.

Either your current agency has outgrown you or your freelancer deserted you. In any case, now you need a new team but you don’t know what to tell them.

Here’s what they’ll be asking about your project.

Having answers to this checklist ready will save you a lot of time and money.

SERVERS

• Hosting (e.g., AWS, Rackspace, MediaTemple, GoDaddy, etc.) This will be necessary for ultimately launching any new development.
• Servers: Web/application/file/database (e.g., Apache, Tomcat, etc.)
• Databases (e.g., MySQL, PostgreSQL, RDS)
• Version Control (e.g., GitHub/Git, BitBucket, Mercurial, etc.) These sometimes include instructions on application setup and configuration.
• Continuous Integration (e.g., Hudson, CruiseControl, etc.)
• Note: it is common to operate several instances of the entire environment configuration for the purposes of testing ongoing upgrades and changes while the site is live. These multiple instances are generally each referred to as Development, Staging, and Production servers. It’s critical enough information that we always ask if a Staging environment is present.

TECH STACK

• Languages (e.g., Rails, PHP, Python, Java, .NET, etc.)
• Platforms (e.g., WordPress, Shopify, SquareSpace, Drupal, etc.)
• Frameworks (e.g., React, Angular, etc.)
• Build processes (package managers will generally leave a signature configuration file that developers should notice easily)
• API integrations (e.g., Google Maps, Facebook login, social sharing, e-commerce, etc.)

ASSETS

• Document-sharing system (Google Drive, Dropbox, etc.)
• Files (Photoshop (.PSD), Sketch, PDF, Illustrator (AI), image or video files, etc.) An InVision or Zeplin link is also common.
• At the very least, literally any assets at all are very helpful.

CREDENTIALS

• Assume that, at the very least, each server has its own username and password. It’s helpful if you provide the information together, grouped by 1.) resource/host URL, 2.) username, and 3.) password.

ANYTHING STRANGE

• Custom workflows, cron jobs, etc. Usually, someone will know to mention if there are any gotchas to look out for along the way.

I hope this list proves to be helpful. If we left anything out, please let us know and we’ll add it to the list!

Author: Dennis Plucinik,
Founder, ATTCK

About ATTCK: We’re an NYC-based digital agency that specializes in web and native app design and development. We work with companies of all sizes, from startups to Fortune 500s. If you’re looking for an agency to work with, give us a call at (917) 725–0044 or email us at hello@attck.com.