Emerisk

Emerisk had a static web site with some additional functionality written in PHP but no properly implemented underlying database. Updating parts of the site was very difficult for staff and it did not allow for the expansion in services they were planning.

They had a clear idea of what was required but we were without an agreed description of the fields to be used in the countries database. However, we began work implementing the new system in Drupal which after the initial discussions became clearly the right tool. As rapid change was needed to convey progress both internally and externally, a multi-phase rollout was started.

Phase 1 involved a slight re-design to allow for some of the features that would be added and some new graphics were introduced of the world map.

Phase 2 saw the world map graphics turned into flash based navigation and a basic set of fields was agreed for the countries which allowed us to implement this part of the project to a stage where analysts could start filling in the country fields with data. While Emerisk's analysts were busy filling the new site with information we were finalising the structure of the countries database with management. Using Drupal's CCK for this, we were able to work on this alongside the data entry work to give analysts new fields to fill in for countries already dealt with. Empty fields would not be displayed and in fact some of the data is only visible to logged in users anyway, so from a very early stage the site was workable.

Using this kind of iterative approach of ongoing development is not always the right way forward, but for some projects allows early prototypes to be developed and refined to accommodate requirements that might not be obvious at the outset.