Another interesting web development methodology, which follows the same pattern as the one
presented above, is the one described by Alexandrou (n.d.). Based on his commercial experience as a Web
Developer, he introduces a method which is also organized in phases. As Alexandrou (n.d.) states “phases
are typically used to communicate a grouping of deliverables and functional progression within a project
timeline and to assess the progress of a project.” His methodology involves eight phases:
Sales: identifying client opportunities, evaluating potential clients and market opportunities and
prepare proposals.
Project Initiation: gather together the project team and plan all the activities in detail.
Analysis: defines the strategy, the processes and the financial viability of the solutions. It also involves
defining technical and business functionalities of the solution.
Design:”undertakes a thorough creative design process that ensures the goals of the e-Business model
are defined, designed and implemented in a creative solution.”(Alexandrou, n.d.)
Development: involves prototyping and application building, unit and system testing.
Implementation: producing the final system
Production Operations: take all the necessary actions to ensure the viability of the solution for a long
period of time.
Project Close: ensure that the project is running as planned and according to user requirements.
The above methodology has similar advantages and disadvantages with the one of Howcroft and
Carroll (2000). The main difference of this methodology and its main strong point is that it starts earlier
than most of the other methodologies and it does not end until after the review of the final project by the
client. This is very helpful in the first stages of the development process of the IT employment e-Business
website, since it can provide a useful guideline on how to move from the original innovative concept to the
first stages of building the website. It also provides useful guidance on how to make the final solution more
viable.
A very interesting variation of the above methodologies is the one presented by December(n.d.). His
method is not only based on six processes but also on six web elements, which the developer should take
into account and try to develop through the building process. The six processes described by
December(n.d.) are similar to the ones of previous methodologies. Planning for the audience and purpose,
analysis (setting objectives and gathering domain information), design, implementation, promotion,
ongoing innovation.
Through all these processes the developer should try to develop the following sets of information, as
defined by December(n.d.):
Audience information, which is an information set about the target audience of the website.
The purpose statement defines the reason for and scope of the web's existence.
The objectives list defines the specific goals the website should accomplish.
The domain information is a collection of knowledge and information about the subject domain the
website covers.
The web specification is a detailed description of the constraints and elements that will go into the
website.
The web presentation is the full description of the technical structures (hypertext and other media) by
which the web is delivered to the users.
The detailed documentation that this method suggests makes it easier to keep track of the progress
of the project and it defines specific deliverables, which indicate the success of the various processes. This
information-based method can also help the developers to understand the problem and the domain in
depth and produce the most effective solution. As December (n.d.) states “a web intended for business or
professional communication needs to not only reflect a consensus of meaning among the sponsors and
originators of the information, but it must reach a diverse audience and continuously change as user needs
change”. However this method can be too complicated and time consuming for a simple web project and
can result in loss of focus from the actual target, which is the website.
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A different approach, which is based on the