Page 213 - Graphic Design and Print Production Fundamentals

Graphic Design 201
Features: Assessing software features is usually part of the decision-making process. Print companies
generally want to know the following before purchasing:

• How easily will customers understand and use the software’s features in a self-service
situation?

• Was the software built to support the print industry or first created for some other use and
applied to the print industry? If the former, are the features transferable?

• Do the features allow set up and administration of the site, creation of B2B storefronts, and
product development. Do they enable the print company to add variable elements, create
users, and take orders without relying on the software provider?

An important tip when choosing software technology is to not put too much emphasis on the number
of features offered. Features tend to constantly change, and more does not necessarily mean better.
While software product development tends to centre on adding more features, it is not necessarily adding
more value. If a feature is added to a product, but is never used by customers, it is possible that the
feature did nothing more than add complexity to the ordering process. Such a feature may result in
discouraging customers from using the system, or placing future orders.

Starting with a New Customer

One way to introduce a new customer to web2print is to build a single item for them. This allows the
customer to learn the ordering process and the print company to learn and incorporate the customer’s
products into a production workflow. A workflow should be designed to be as automated as possible,
from order entry to production to invoicing. New workflows should include sufficient time to allow a
customer to test the variable templates to extremes, entering best- and worst-case scenarios to ensure the
template can perform in all situations without errors. Only once the initial workflow has been proven
to be efficient should more products be added to the storefront. This ensures that both the customer
(external activity) and the print company (internal activity) are confident enough in the workflow to
handle more orders.

Setting Goals and Site Testing

Printing companies should allow time to educate their customers in all steps of the process when
launching an e-commerce system or when adding a new variable-template-driven item. The easiest
way to meet customer expectations is to involve them in the development process, regularly inviting
feedback and eliciting suggestions for improvement. Customer satisfaction is important, so a company
must ensure that it takes client feedback seriously, incorporating customer input to improve the service
process. As the site is being developed, both the programmer and the customer need to rigorously
test new products and templates to ensure they are completely satisfied long before allowing product
ordering. It is common for a programmer to envision how a template will behave, while the customer
intends it to behave in a different way. Often a customer has expectations that the programmer may not
have foreseen. Once the entire site, including products and templates, has been developed, it still isn’t
ready. A testing phase or pilot period is necessary to find any other bugs or shortcomings that may be
more easily discovered once real data is being used. Implementing a pilot period before an official launch