New agency. Same website project. What happens next?
Taking over a website project part-way through isn’t wildly unusual. Sometimes priorities change. Sometimes teams change. Sometimes a project simply needs a different set of skills to get it over the line. Sometimes, if we are being honest, it is a clash of personalities (come on, we have all seen that happen at least once!)
Whatever the reason, when we inherit a website project from another agency, our first instinct isn’t to rip everything up and start again. It’s to understand what’s already there and what gaps need to be filled.
Inheriting a body of work comes with a slightly different challenge to starting with a blank sheet of paper. Decisions have already been made, time and budget have already been spent and it is highly likely that there will be perfectly good parts of the project that should absolutely be carried forward. Equally, there may be things that need some fresh eyes, a new perspective. So, before we start designing or building anything, we spend some time getting under the skin of the project. Exactly as we would if we had started from the beginning. There is no point pretending we know everything (yet!)
We start with the ‘why’
What was the original brief? Who are the audiences? What does the organisation need the website to achieve? And have any of those things changed since the project began? This gives us something to measure the existing work against. Because without understanding the objectives, we can tell you whether we like a sitemap or a wireframe. What we can’t confirm is whether it’s right.
And there’s quite a big difference. One that often gets overlooked!
We talk to the client
If you have worked with us, you will know, we love a chat! This isn’t because we don’t have anything better to do, but it is where we get to find out the nitty gritty. The parts that are overlooked if everything is just agreed via tracked changes (argh!) Are the original objectives still the right ones? Have priorities changed? Is everyone internally happy with the direction? Is the project where they expected it to be?
And, crucially, why is the project changing hands? What was the real sticking point? Not because we’re looking to point fingers (because quite literally what would be the point in that?) Quite the opposite. Understanding what hasn’t worked, helps us make sure we don’t inadvertently recreate exactly the same problem. Measure twice, cut once.
We work out what we can keep
This bit is important! A new agency does not have to mean a new everything. There can be a temptation when taking over somebody else’s project to immediately demonstrate what you would have done differently. We don’t think that’s particularly helpful.
If the sitemap works, great. If there are strong wireframes, established brand guidelines or technical decisions that make sense, they all give us a great head start.
The question isn’t “Would we have done it exactly this way?”
It’s “Does this work?”
If the answer is yes, we move forward. If the answer is no, then obviously this is where we can start afresh with amends and updates to the project as it stands now, not as it stood then.
We sanity-check the things that matter
There are, however, some fundamentals we’ll always want to look at before moving into the next stage. Is the information architecture documented and does it reflect the needs of the different audiences? Do the wireframes support the objectives of the site, rather than simply accommodating everything that needs to go on it? (Always remembering the site is audience focussed, rather than an internal document suppository!)
Is there a realistic content plan? This is important, it needs to be clear who is actually going to write and approve it? There is no point in moving forward with a site that focuses on weekly blog posts, parts of which form dynamic content on the homepage, if there is no-one to write said posts! Whilst getting the website live is a key objective, ensuring the website is usable from a client perspective, is equally as important. This isn’t a piece of print, the project isn’t finished once the site is live. That is the exciting part, when our clients can make use of all the work that has gone before.
Are there technical requirements that have been properly scoped? Does the original scope still match the website the team is now expecting to build? That last one can be particularly revealing! Websites have a habit of growing quietly during the early stages of a project. The classic project creep! A new content type here, an integration there, a seemingly innocent “could users also…?” Individually, they may seem small. Collectively, they can create quite a different project.
Sometimes we do have to start by going backwards
Nobody particularly wants to hear that something needs to be redone. And we certainly wouldn’t recommend it simply because we weren’t the people who created it in the first place. I promise you our egos aren’t that big.
But sometimes taking a small step backwards prevents a much bigger problem later. If the sitemap isn’t quite right, it’s better to revisit it before producing another 20 wireframes. If the wireframes don’t answer the needs of the audience, it’s better to address that before design. And if the content requirements haven’t been properly considered, discovering that before development is considerably easier to rectify. Our job at this point is to be clear about what we think needs revisiting, why, and what impact that will have on the project.
Which brings us to…
Resetting the plan
Once we’ve completed that initial review, we should have a pretty clear picture of what we’re working with. We can agree what stays, what changes and what still needs to be done. We can also put realistic timings against it and make sure everybody understands, and agrees, the scope of the project as it is today.
Sometimes that means the project can carry on almost exactly where it left off. Sometimes it needs a little strategic work first. And occasionally it does need a more substantial rethink. None of those are inherently a problem.
The important thing is knowing which one you’re dealing with before everyone starts charging towards a launch date again.
A handover isn’t a red flag
Changing agency halfway through a website project can understandably make clients nervous. There’s often a fear that work will be duplicated, money will be wasted or the whole thing will have to start again.
That shouldn’t be the case at all. We don’t need to have made every decision from the beginning. Well, unless every decision that was made truly was the wrong one!
A good handover is really about great communication and getting under the skin of what’s already been done and being clear where the project needs to go next. It is not going back to square one. It is about getting the project moving again.
New agency?Yes. Starting the project from scratch? Definitely not!
