Code, code, code… We’ve spoken with a no. of brand, creative and design agencies over the past 3 months to uncover their digital development needs and have learnt that ever more crucial is a core emphasis on collaboration. Effective delivery is essential for brand, design and creative agencies. There is an increasing requirement with ever complex client projects, for digital partners to understand and be able to speak creative and client language i.e. more than code, code, code!

We’ve discovered that many agencies will work with various developers from individuals to large digital agencies till they find the right partner(s) for the right projects. Sometimes the journey can be simple but often it can be less than smooth. These are the top 5 ‘wants’ other than technical ability, performance and pricing that our research uncovered:

Good communication skills
A collaborative, open approach
Design literacy
Reliability
Flexibility and open-mindedness to change

When agencies gain this quality of service from developers, then performance and output for their own client base is of consistently higher quality and costs are easier to predict and manage.
Agencies are often judged on being on deadline, on budget and on brief – as well as creative output.  And feedback shows that agencies need their supply chain to work harder for them. Having a ‘roster’ of reliable and communicative development partners to call on for projects is vital.

What are your thoughts on this? Get in touch, it would be great to know