Everything started with an idea. And, all of them probably seemed like good ideas at the time. As they were developed further, the good ones got better and the bad ones just got worse (take a look at the Gallery of Obscure Patents for some doozies).

If you don't have a process in place to weed out the bad ideas from the good ideas or have a process which you go through to make the good ideas great, you will probably waste most of your time on the bad ideas. And, in the meantime, you will lose your customers.

We do not work in a box. By using The Thought Foundry Process™, guidelines for our projects are established inside the box, but we think outside the box to find the solution that will fit the established guidelines.

One of the biggest differences of our process, is how we go about determining the needs for each project. Many interactive media firms launch into technology and price discussions without spending the time going through the specifics to determine the needs and problems of a client. They launch into technology discussions and start blurting out prices off the tops of their heads. This is not fruitful for the client or the agency.

Technology is necessary to make interactive media work. Since technology makes it all work, many people fall into the technology trap. The technology trap is the misconception that technology is the answer to all problems and therefore it gets the most important consideration. When one part of interactive media is given more weight than the other, the goals of the project quickly get overshadowed.

We have structured our pricing to allow the problems and needs to determine the course of the project. At the same time, we have a firm grasp of what the client can afford. Many interactive firms make the mistake of applying technology liberally and driving up the cost of a project. We apply solutions and technology as needed.

This is how we are different. We have established a 4 phase process that does not rely upon Technology, Design or Marketing independently. They are all very important. They are so important that we have constructed The Thought Foundry Process™ so that these individual disciplines work together very tightly as a cohesive unit.

A brief description of The Thought Foundry Process™:

The Analysis and Recommendations Phase is a comprehensive research phase. We collaborate with the client to define goals and objectives, target audience, functionality, technology, content requirements and maintenance.

The outcome is cumulated into a document called the Thought Foundry Project Blueprint™. This document contains recommendations and all necessary information that will be the basis for executing the project. The principles contained within this document will guide the outcome of the rest of the project.

 

The Design and Prototype Phase is where we take the market research, goals, and recommendations from the Thought Foundry Project Blueprint™ to build the look and feel, information architecture and the user's experience. The project's significantly unique items will be visualized to match the goals of the Thought Foundry Project Blueprint™. The outcome of this exploration will result in a graphical and informational architecture design presentation.

Once we have presented the initial designs, we develop the prototype of the selected design. The prototype is where look and feel, technology, information architecture and user experience are realized. The goal of the prototype is to build a small functional portion of the project that will demonstrate the objectives of the Thought Foundry Project Blueprint™. The prototype marks the beginning of the Content and Guidelines Catalog. This will serve as a confirmation of how the site is structured and how it behaves.

 

The Development and Quality Assurance Phase is where we build the project based upon the research and development from the first three phases. We finalize the Content and Guidelines Catalog and build the project based on the previously established guidelines and delivery schedule. During and after the development of the project we deploy quality assurance schemes that test the project's functionality and content for accuracy.

 

The last phase in the Thought Foundry Process™ is the Execution of the 3 M's Phase. The 3 M's stand for Marketing, Measurement and Maintenance.

The marketing plan of the site is deployed. Project effectiveness is measured and compared to the goals of the Thought Foundry Project Blueprint™. And, Specific dates are established for iterative revisions, expansion and ongoing support.