In 2017, we served dozens of companies. For a team still building its foundation, that number isn't small—it means we had enough real projects to look back on and learn from.
That year, we worked across quite a few industries. Every time we moved into a new one, we had to understand its business logic and what its customers cared about all over again. That process took a great deal of time, but the experience it brought is something no reference material can replace.
Making the Early Project Phase Heavy
The more projects we did, the more we felt it: the key to building a website isn't the technology itself, but "understanding." The same corporate website means completely different things to companies in different industries and of different sizes. And customers often can't articulate these needs clearly—it's up to us to ask and to sort them out.
So we made the early-stage communication in our projects heavier: first spend the time getting clear on the client's business, then start designing. Slower at the front end means less rework later, which saves trouble for both sides.
The Team Is Growing
That year, the team worked together more smoothly than the year before. Who's responsible for a project, how progress gets synced, how requirement changes get recorded—things we used to handle through ad-hoc communication gradually became established practices.
We also began to emphasize members' ability to solve problems, not just to execute. Being able to understand a requirement and propose a solution—that's what it takes to truly get the hang of it.
Written at Year's End
2017 wasn't an easy year, but the results are reassuring. Thanks to the dozens of companies that chose to trust us this year.