As 2012 gets going I thought I’d take this opportunity to look back on 2011 and pen some notes on how it all went. Where we were, where we went and what we did really. I’d love to hear how your 2011 went, so leave me a comment or link to a blog post!
This was a big year for SteamDesk in terms of new business, not least with our hugely successful design studio partnership bringing us a diverse range of exciting website projects. Our own website was also overhauled early this year, attracting attention from all over the country. Don’t mistake me, there was a period of deathly silence (during which I was sure people were ignoring us on purpose) but after Google started showing us some love we were soon being found by the right people. Travelling to Milton Keynes signed us a new Sage project which we’re very proud of. Stay tuned for more background on that early next year, to coincide with its launch in January.
Following that, a short blast over to Peterborough introduced us to a company who were in need of custom Magento development, which we were happy to provide. From there we’ve been happy to help with a number of their other e-commerce requirements.
With all these new projects, and the inherent increase in value of our time, it suddenly became very important to talk to clients about their requirements and sort the wheat from the chaff.
“Yes, I know that feature would be great, but can we live without it to save time and deliver a sharper finished product?”
There’s a danger when working on a new project that the feature list can grow indefinitely while the resource pool inevitably dries up. These situations aren’t ideal for me, in terms of planning my time, or for the client, who has no idea what to expect of their finished product. To prevent this confusion I try to refine and tweak and polish the feature list, so we’re left with something manageable. The finished specification will have everything on their must-have list and as much as possible from their nice-to-have list. More importantly everything will be justified (something which designers do so well, and developers… well, don’t) and serve a purpose that supports the goal. For example, this means we’re building a kettle that boils water, not one which is plumbed in, filters the water before heating it to a specific temperature, Tweets it’s progress and sends you an email when it’s done.
Further to the developments in how we work, there were interesting developments elsewhere, especially in the music department. The soundtrack to our office was Radio 1 for the longest time, as I’m sure it is for many people up and down the country. As with anything however, too much of a good thing can become sickly so we eventually switched over the the, somewhat retro, XFM; so far so good, and blessed in some odd way by me getting called in on Danny Wallace’s first breakfast show to chat with him and James Corden about my kind deed. Which I may as well detail now, basically I enjoy paying double at toll bridges so the complete stranger behind can cross for free. Hopefully some of you will now try this, and spread a little unexpected joy in your world.
Our office also developed, with our new office manager Devrah entering the studio. I’m sure Devrah will elaborate on her own experiences in 2011, so I’ll just say that she did a fine job keeping everyone in good tea, good spirits and hopelessly dated music.
The scary world of networking (not the wireless kind; there’s little scary about that beyond the slightly worrying ‘Wolverine’ access point my phone sometimes spots) was something we experimented with in 2011, with Devrah attending a number of events for us in an attempt to promote our services and skills in the local area. We had limited success however, for a few possible reasons. Firstly, our offering can’t be summed up as succinctly as, say, a double glazing company or a financial advisor. While this makes it difficult for us to sell first-hand, it makes it even more difficult for other networkers to sell SteamDesk on our behalf. This complexity and depth also makes it difficult for these potential spokesmen to identify situations where the services of a development company could be used. Unlike a car garage, we can’t just go out and talk to people who’d like to buy a new car.
