This case study shows off an online ice cream store that I designed and developed during my time as a WordPress Developer at Impact IT Solutions. Dolcetti is a family-run company who make and sell their own gelato, sorbet and dog ice creams, based in the Cotswolds. Dolcetti originally had just their home website and an in person store. They used to take online orders via the phone/email however, they wanted to create an easier way to automate online orders. That is where the website came in.
The Process
This website proved to be a longer process than anticipated. There were various issues that were encountered on both my side of the project, the client’s side and a thrid party helping the client with stock control. I tired to manage this project by splitting it into phases, phase 1: ideation, phase 2: design, phase 3: iteration & developmentWith Below describes the process that was undertaken to complete this project.
Design
The design process was the simplest phase of this project. All od the designs were based on the original website. The most important was ensuring that all of the fonts, text size and colours matched the main site. Then it was a matter of designing in line with WooCommerce as it isn’t the most flexible in terms of design.
Development
The development phase was completed using WordPress, Elementor and WooCommerce. The development phase went well with very little hinderances whilst I was able to focus on it. However, there were some occasions where the client was requesting some changes outside of the agreed specifications. Some were minor but some took more work, therefore, I had to decline the changes as it would the project’s timeframe in jeopardy.
Hinderances
Among the hinderance when developing the website and expanding the requirements, there were other hinderances too. Communication was one to mention, the client would tell me what they required from the site on one occasion and then, after a few days, they would tell me something that contradicted what they originally said. Also, some of the added specificaitons that were agreed proved to be even harder than anticipated such as calculating a discount for customers who ordered a certain product and locking half of the site out for busniesses only. Finally, the biggest hinderance was the third party and stock control. Once I had added all of the stock numbers to the items on the site, they were to take over and then connect everything automatically and start reading stock levels. However, it took a long time for this to happen as they had an issue on their end. To resolve these issues, took perseverance, patience, reasoning, research and the courage to say no when necessary.
Conclusion
Despite the hinderances, this was an amazing project to manage and work on. I learned a lot about how a business operates and how to individually manage and work on a complicated project. There were a lot of learnings to take from this project and I certianly feel a lot more experienced now.
Check out the store here.
