What do we do?

We are a full-service web development agency. Our projects come in all shapes in sizes: from small static web sites, to heavily integrated, enterprise class social networks with tens of thousands of users, to private intranet applications like the benefits enrollment system we developed for Tufts Medical Center, or the social intranet platform we recently launched. We work with an incredibly wide variety of platforms and technologies (too many to name, in fact). If it's out there, chances are, we've worked with it.

Regardless of the size of your project, we will work closely with you to craft a custom solution that caters to your unique requirements. We view the development process as a partnership, with our team working hand in hand with yours throughout the process, collaborating, conspiring, providing regular progress updates, status reports and estimations on delivery. Unlike some agencies, we don't take on more projects than we can chew. This allows us to remain focused on your project and deliver on our promises.

We prefer it when you approach us with well-thought-out requirements, but we're also happy to help you hammer out detailed specifications with a formal discovery phase. The one thing we won't do it spec work. We believe that partnerships require trust, mutual respect and commitment. We hope you agree.

Our Process

Every project is unique, so we like to keep our process as maleable as possible. That said, a typical Arck project is likely to involve some combination of the following phases:

• Discovery/Architecture: This is a series of discussions where we develop an understanding of your business drivers, stakeholders and project goals. The outputs of this phase include: wireframes and design prototype for all site pages; use case schenarios; information architecture; detailed requirements, platform recommendations, and specs for development; project schedules and estimates for development based on our blended rate.
• Configuration: We set up your web hosting environment, source control, project management and bug tracking systems.
• Design: In this phase, we will take the outputs of discovery and create full-color design compositions. We'll revise the comps unti they're to your liking and then we'll convert them to standards compliant XHTML and develop the front-end code for the UI.
• Development: The development phase is an iterative process loosely based on the agile model. We'll deliver a functional alpha version of your application and release additional functionality in prioritized weekly sprints. We'll refine functionality based on the feeback we get from your team.
• Testing: Although every phase involves testing, our projects end with a 1-4 week formal testing phase where we iron out any bugs, refactor code, volume test and ensure our code validates across the platforms you're targetting.
• Migration: This is the final phase of an Arck project. After we receive sign-off, we will migrate the application to your production environment.