mySociety

Features The elements of a user-centred project

• First concepts

  

  The most important part of any software project happens before the first line of code is written: it happens when you decide what you need and how it is going to work.

  mySociety knows how to identify the projects that will succeed,  and develop them into products that meet and exceed those first concepts. If all you have is a few scribbles on the back of an envelope, frankly, there’s no better time to get in touch.

  If, on the other hand, you’re a little further down the line, there’s still plenty of time to tap into our expertise.

  Get our insight into your project now.

• Mobile sites and apps

  

  Increasingly, your users’ first impressions are formed on a screen just a few inches wide. With the massive rise in mobile access, the demand is for readable text, clear navigation, and fast loading times.

  We launched our first iPhone app in 2008, when the app store had been online for a matter of weeks. These days we operate a ‘Mobile First’ philosophy, starting from the question “How will this work on mobile?” before moving to the web.

  mySociety builds apps across the popular mobile operating systems, iOS, Android, Windows & Blackberry, and we’ll drive your design processes to ensure that all thinking is mobile-focused.

  Get a quote for mobile development.

• Keeping your users happy

  Some websites are painful – that’s a fact. And some are so painless, you barely notice you’re using them. That’s the sort that people will come back to time and again – and that’s the sort we make.

  When a website has reached the height of usability, it feels like it could never have been built another way. But believe us – it takes some deep thinking to make things that simple. We’ve won awards for our relentless focus on people-centric user experiences.

  What are the ingredients of these highly usable sites? We work in HTML, CSS and Javascript – the three fundamentals of web front end development.

  Ask us how we’ll make your users happy.

• We're multi-lingual

  Some agencies are besotted with a single coding language, and inflexible as a consequence. Not so mySociety.

  Our team regularly builds projects in Python, PHP, Ruby-on-Rails, Perl and Node.js, and using the Django and Catalyst frameworks. We’re also at home across a range of  different database technologies, using PostgresQL, mySQL and MongoDB on production sites.

  This diversity comes from a high skilled development team, selected for the high quality of their work, rather than the language it was written in. Each developer has a wide range of experience, and all are actively engaged in keeping their skills current.

  Tell us what language you speak.

• Activate your data

  Many of mySociety’s projects are founded on mapping and data visualisation – see, for instance, Mapumental. We work with state of the art visualisation technologies, and we’ll display your data so that it’s both beautiful and meaningful.

  Need the world to sit up and pay attention? We’re expert in pulling out the stories and headlines from reams of data – which can often have even more impact than graphs and pretty visualisations. We’ll advise on approaches likely to succeed, and how to avoid common pitfalls.

  Ask us how to present your most important data.

• From small screen to widescreen

  We know clients have different needs when it comes to the robustness and load-capacity of the sites they run. At mySociety we don’t have a one-size-fits-all approach, and we’ll make sure your site is appropriately hosted and tested for your expected load.

  We’ve built sites for tiny charities, for major TV broadcasts and for the Prime Minister’s office. We’ll make sure your service is hosted the right way.

  Run some numbers by us now.

• Keep talking

  Ever felt like a nuisance – and then realised it’s YOUR project? We’ll make sure you’re kept informed throughout the entire development process.

  Communication is key to the way we work. Everything going to schedule? We want you to know. Unexpected circumstances? We definitely want you to know – and fast.

  We’ll work closely with you to ensure that the working style on each project is appropriate for your wishes and requirements. We don’t have a ‘house style’ that we’ll impose on you – we’ll work around your needs and constraints.

  Tell us what those needs are now.

• Seriously, that's the total price?!

  You may find yourself surprised when you ask us for a quote.

  mySociety is a not-for-profit organisation, with proceeds from our commercial work feeding into our charitable endeavours. We have low overheads. Our skilled team can turn projects around quickly. For these, and all sorts of other reasons, our prices generally come in far below expectations.

  Our prices are very competitive when compared against typical web development agencies – try us and see.

  Get your quote now.