How to Use Basecamp for Web Design

Basecamp connects individual team-members by makes specific project resources available to everyone -- and in one central location.

Traditionally, project management for Web designers and other small businesspersons has involved purchasing multiple licenses of a desktop-based software title like Microsoft Project or one of a number add-ons for Lotus Notes, then installing it on local computers. Basecamp is a cloud-based project management tool. Unlike desktop-based software, cloud-based software exists on a central server. For access, end-users pay a monthly subscription fee and receive login credentials. Though some users have raised concerns about data loss, others find a cloud-based approach more appealing than managing projects using a combination of desktop software, email and inter-office mail.

Things You'll Need

• Basecamp account
• Basecamp-friendly time-tracking tool

Instructions

1. Add all of your team members to the project in Basecamp before doing anything else. Click on the "All People" tab, then click "Add Person." Fill out the form with the person's name and email address, then make up a username and password for them to use and click "Add this person." Basecamp will add them as a new team member and send them an email containing their login credentials.

2. Draft a project plan for your current Web design gig using Basecamp's Writeboard, a collaborative word processor that tracks changes automatically. Begin by clicking on the "Writeboards" tab on the Basecamp Dashboard, then click "Create a writeboard." Enter a name for the writeboard when prompted. Basecamp will present you with a large, unassuming form field. Place your cursor in the field and beginning typing out your ideas. When you are finished brainstorming and have something presentable, scroll down to the list of team members below the form field and check the names of anyone who you would like to notify about what you have written. Then, click "Save this writeboard." Click "Add a comment" and leave a note for your fellow team members, inviting them to review your work and to add their own suggestions to the writeboard. Again, check next to their names in the list below the writeboard to send them an email notification about your comment. When your team members log in to Basecamp and go to the Writeboard tab, they will see what you've written and have the option to add their own contributions. The Writeboard will save every new version and mark each user's contribution with an annotation specifying their username.

3. Schedule a team meeting to plan your current project on a more granular level. Click on the "Calendar" tab in the Basecamp Dashboard, then click "Add a new event." In the form field that appears, type the name, date and time of the event, then click "Add this event." During the meeting occurs, work with you team and the client to decide upon a series of specific project milestones. When will you deliver the first wire-frames to the client? When will the first working prototype be available for testing? On what date will the site go live? To add these milestones, return to Basecamp's calendar by click on the "Calendar" tab. Click "Add a new event," type in basic details, then click on the radio box marked "This is a milestone." Select the proper team member in the drop-down list that appears under "Who's responsible?", then click "Add this event" to save the milestone in the calendar.

4. Project plan each milestone and assign specific tasks to individual team members using Basecamp's To-Dos panel. Have the team member responsible for each milestone make a separate to-do list for her part of the work. To make a new to-do list, click on the "To-Dos" tab in the Basecamp Dashboard. Click "New to-do list," name the list when prompted, then click "Create this list." Type a task into the field labeled "Enter a to-do item." Enter a due-date, then choose a team member from the drop-down list marked "Who's responsible?" and click "Add this item." Repeat until all of the tasks involved in reaching the milestone have been entered into the to-do list.

5. Set up your clients with their own Basecamp login credentials and request that they use Basecamp's messaging system for all discussions of the project. Limiting all correspondence to Basecamp can reduce the chance of miscommunication by ensuring that all interactions regarding the project are preserved in a single, centralized place. First, click on the "All People" tab on the Basecamp Dashboard, then click on "Add a new company." When prompted, enter the company name and click "Create company." On the screen that appears, click "Add a new person" and follow the procedure described in Step 1 of this article to add your client and the members of their external team.

6. Manage digital assets. Upload all of the digital assets for your current Web design project -- from mind-maps to wire-frames and screen-shots -- as you create them. Click on the "Files" tab on the Basecamp Dashboard. Click "Upload a file," then "Choose File" and browse to find the file in question on your system. Type an optional description in the form field, mark the check-boxes next to any team members you wish to notify, then click "Upload the file." Storing important project files in the cloud will make them accessible to your entire team and serve as an additional layer of backup.

Tips & Warnings

• Consider supplementing in-person or Skype-based meetings with your client with periodic chats in Campire, Basecamp's tool for multi-user chatting. Campfire will keep a transcript of any chat in your project files.

• Purchasing a Plus-level account will unlock Basecamp's native time-tracking features, which work both on a per-task and a per-user basis. Add time-log entries under the "Time" tab on the Basecamp Dashboard. Click on the "To-Dos" tab and check "enable time tracking" to begin saving time-tracking information for each task on a list. If you do not have a Plus level account, consider using Cashboard or Time Hawk, third-party time-tracking tools with support for the Basecamp API.

• Before inviting a new client to interact with your team using Basecamp, make an honest assessment of their computer literacy and comfort levels with basic project management. In some cases, you may decide to limit Basecamp usage to your internal team and to send the client periodic updates instead of allowing them access the project in real time. Consider entering all client email into Basecamp for your team's records.

• To ensure that every team member receives proper notice of all meetings, ask your team to log in to Basecamp, click on the "Calendar" tab and click "Subscribe to iCalendar." This will launch the system's default calendar manager -- be it iCal, Mozilla Calendar or something else entirely -- and open the Basecamp calendar feed in a new window.

References

• WIRED Magazine: Home Sweet Office: Telecommute Good for Business, Employees, and Planet
• 37 Signals: Customers
• 37 Signals: Help: How do I use Basecamp to-do lists to track time?
• Basecamp HQ: Take a Tour of Basecamp
• Basecamp Demos: Time Tracking
• Cashboard: Estimate, Invoice and Time Tracking Software for Your Business
• Time Hawk: It's About Time.
• WIRED Magazine: Steven Levy on the Perils of Cloud Computing