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Case Study

Overview

The Altec Design team researched, prototyped and ultimately built a custom online application for St. Louis Jefferson Solid Waste Management. When the SWMD team contacted Altec their existing application process was done entirely "offline" through paper applications. The SWMD staff wanted to update and modernize their application process to improve the experience for applicants and to improve their own efficiency.

The Altec team worked directly with key SWMD staff members to build a custom system that fit their exact needs, in total the goals for the system were:

  • Create an online application to streamline the application process
  • Allow all employees to have a login to the website with the ability to view all completed and in process applications currently in the system
  • A custom email notification system to alert key staff members when an application has completed
  • An application broken up into 7 different pages. Each page auto saves and allows applicants the ability to store their application and return to complete it at a later date
  • A custom search to allow employees to search through all applications in the system
  • Unique application tracking numbers, these numbers are assigned the instant an application is submitted and the naming convention updates automatically every year
  • Allowing for quick system wide alerts and notifications to be broadcast to all employees.

Choosing The Foundation To Build On

Our preferred Framework is Laravel and whenever possible we prefer to use Laravel for custom development projects. Laravel is an exceptional framework that offers many benefits. First and foremost it standardizes the project so that down the road it is much easier for any other developer to come in and update/maintain the system. It also provides the benefit of helping to enforce good coding habits. We have been called in countless times by clients to come and update or fix other custom applications only to find outdated or improper coding practices in place. Most of the time these systems were built entirely "from scratch" which makes it more difficult for others to step in and contribute to the system. We are strong proponents of using a great framework as the foundation for all our systems so that clients can benefit from the best practices and standardization that comes with them.

Prototyping and Wireframing

With our framework in place we built a sitemap and interactive wireframe documents. While we can't share the full wireframe documents publicly but we can share the single page below. During this stage of the project we shared the sitemap and wireframe documents with the client over the course of several remote and in person meetings. During each session we refined the functionality of the system. Once all details had been approved by the client we created a formal design spec document and received sign off from SWMD staff to move onto design & development work.

Design & Development

During design and development our team built a custom online application complete with a custom application repository and customer search. In addition to the custom administration system our team built a completely custom front end client facing application platform. The entire design and development process took 4 months to complete.

Site Launch & Ongoing Relationship

Altec’s engineers worked with the SWMD staff to launch the new website on host the website on Altec Design servers. Altec has continued a great working relationship with the SWMD team, often doing quarterly updates to the site. Unlike WordPress Laravel is a framework that does not need constant updates to stay safe and secure, however it is still a best practice to update Laravel versions every 1 – 2 years to keep the site in line with current best practices.

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Hear What Our Clients Think

pete Sam and Brian are an unbelievable asset to me personally and the multiple businesses I run. No matter what technology or digital project I throw at them; they can always handle and always shoot me straight and make sure I understand it in regular language. I honestly don’t know where our companies would be today without "the boys" because they power all things digital and we have a blast doing it.
Pete Fusz: Lou Fusz Automotive
leo I get email after email, call after call from companies claiming they can make my SEO better. Well I am not interested in anything these marketers tell me because I have Alec Design doing my work. These guys are not only on top of the game, they convey to me options as they see fit. I was using a larger national operation before going to them, I now spend less and get better and more with "the guys" at Altec.
Leo Anglo: Vincent's Jewelers
stl mens Great Company! The folks at Altec Design have been instrumental in building a secure system to house our schedule and monitor our patient care. They always have our best interest in mind and we continue to call on them for advice whenever we can!
Dr. Shawn Bradley: St Louis Mens Clinic
no-name Altec did a great job on our site. We were not 100% sure initially what all we needed to do to get our business online. Altec Design sat down with us a went over each step we needed to accomplish to get our website completed. Between our thorough understanding of our business and their technical know-how we ended up with a site that is the envy of our competition. Thanks a lot guys!
Dr. Candice Coffey: STL Back Care Clinic
mike As a fledgling startup trying comprised of two guys with zero technical/web skills, Sam helped hand hold us through the early stages of securing a website and developing an effective and simple site to communicate our businesses value proposition. He helped set up company emails, and pointed us to some great tools for other business assets (newsletter, analytics). They made everything in the process simple and easy.
Mike Sale: Brew Bracket
mikes My experience with Altec Design has been awesome. They worked to accommodate my needs above my means at the time, and they built a website I was very happy with. It helped take my business to the next level!
Mike Oldroyd: Mike Oldroyd Comedy
mh The guys at Altec really know how to communicate their knowledge and expertise on a human level. I've worked with other web design companies in the past and they may as well have been speaking Latin. Altec worked with me on our project with the care and patience you'd expect from a friend or family member. The projects we have partnered on are successful mainly because I understand all the steps and trust in Altec's experience.
Max Zofness: Zofwel Student Exchange