The define phase establishes the concept, vision and requirements for each of our projects.

Firstly, we spend time with our clients, holding discussions in a workshop-based format where ideas are made visible with post-it notes. Focusing strongly on collaboration, we quickly come to understand client goals and needs while also looking for ways to add value by sharing industry insights and challenging thinking.

Our approach at this stage is heavily weighted towards business alignment.

Since we don’t presume to know our clients’ business better than they do, we ask questions that help us understand the intended audience, their expectations, and what the client hopes to provide for end users. The information we gather enables us to make well-informed strategic decisions, which both ensures that all stakeholders are on the same page and that the best direction is taken from the very outset.

Finally, requirements are formulated into a user experience concept made up of user flows, user stories, user personas and early screen layouts - a process of creative outlining that includes the visual style and a technical proof of concept that resolves potential technological issues.

The Nice design approach overlays a user-centred development methodology with goal-directed and contextual design principles. This means we deliver quick, iterative results whilst providing our clients with full transaprency and regular progress updates.

Our multifaceted team have a wealth of experience at creating applications that keep the user’s needs, ease of use and usage scenarios at the very forefront of design. Specialising in bringing applications to life for both consumers and enterprises, they work closely with clients to truly immerse themselves in the brand to guarantee consistency across all touchpoints and maximise brand value.

Design workloads are split into three core streams.

Technical design revolves around a written architecture document. Going hand in hand with the user stories and personas taken from the define phase, these form a detailed set of specifications for the application.

Visual design evolves the creative concept into a set of polished, well-executed screen designs that are aligned with the brand and application designs.

User experience design prototyping allows us to quickly explore a wide range of individual ideas while also performing thorough user testing. Finally, content is organised and application screens laid out using a set of highly-evolved, detailed wireframes.

Once all design documentation has been approved by the client, our technology team begin building the application.

With iterations typically lasting two weeks, exposure to risk is limited and both quality assurance testing and user experience reviews can be conducted on a regular basis. Clients are given full early-stage visibility so that there are no surprises along the way and opportunities to identify potential improvements always exist.

Nice employs Agile methodologies for project management and development, making project progress tracking easy for stakeholders, while the burden of project management is shouldered by our strategy team alone.

A series of iteration planning meetings gives clients regular deliverables and further opportunities to provide feedback.

Before concluding the development phase of the project, an iteration called “Fit and Finish” is performed. A key step in the quality assurance process, this gives all stakeholders the opportunity to stand back from the development process to reevaluated the work from an outsider’s perspective. This helps to refocus attention on the end user experience and ensures that the application is the very best product for both the market and client alike.

Finally, the Nice approach to release management makes use of experience gained from working with a number of very high profile clients. We guide our clients through pre-release user acceptance and quality assurance testing, while also helping them gain the skills and knowledge necessary for successful post-release application management.

The delivery phase ends with a comprehensive integration testing cycle combined with an extensive, thorough design review. It is at this point that any final technical or design issues are dealt with, making absolutely certain that products are rock solid and ready for release.

Once approval has been received, we undertake the release management of the application on our clients’ behalf. This guarantees that project completion is a smooth and pleasant process and all stakeholders walk away happy.

Nice to the end.