Viget Labs - We Build Web Business

How We Work

Ruby on Rails

— Early adopters of the Ruby on Rails framework, we now leverage Rails for all of our custom development efforts. In our early years we believed in being technology agnostic, and we worked in PHP, Java, and even Cold Fusion (remember that?). Experience has shown that our clients and team members benefit greatly from focus. We’re a curious bunch and still play with other technologies, but we’d rather be great Ruby developers than just pretty good developers. So, we are.

Agile Methods

— We value close collaboration with clients and the ability to quickly respond to change. We do not subscribe to a particular implementation of Agile development, but instead tailor our workflow to client needs and expectations. We realize each situation is different and work with the client to make their processes and our process work together well.

Change will happen. You need a development approach that allows for it. We believe that code should do what it needs to do in the present and evolve for the future.

Small Teams, Short Iterations, and Client Collaboration

— We don’t believe in big, bloated, quickly-out-of-date planning documents. Our small teams participate in daily standup meetings where progress and blockers are discussed. Two-week iterations—including regular functional demonstrations—ensure requirements changes are addressed quickly, and the product meets client expectations.

Clients take an active role in the development process, helping to set priorities, schedules, and evolving feature requirements. Our process is transparent and the more engaged a client can be, the better the product will be. Working in-person with our team, while valuable at certain points, is not essential as we leverage several web-based tools to support collaboration.

Test-Driven Development (TDD)

— Based on TDD standards, before we write the code to support a feature, we write the tests that verify the feature is working correctly. These tests are then run automatically before new code is added to an application. As the software grows, these tests are essential to having a quality, maintainable product.

Pair Programming

— Pair programming is when two developers sit with one computer and write code together. It can be a surprising approach for some, but the benefits of pairing are clear: faster problem solving, better code quality, increased focus, reduced distractions, and overall more rapid development. Some firms insist on pair programming exclusively, however, we believe that in some cases—depending on the assignment, client need, and requirements—solo programming can be more cost and time efficient. We believe in pairing at the right times, and customize each project accordingly.

Not Just a Software Team

The best code in the world is worthless without:

• The right user experience
• A great interface design
• A marketing approach that earns customers

Viget’s talented developers enjoy working closely with the other Labs, collaborating with our user experience strategists, interface designers, and marketers who collectively shape the product. This full-team approach is what makes Viget unique and allows our clients to work with a single partner to achieve what traditionally requires many vendor relationships. It affords our clients the ability to focus on their business, knowing Viget can address all aspects of the product creation.

Ways to Work with Viget

In addition to the full product development services described above, there are other ways to leverage our team. We can work alongside your existing team (in the right situation) to accelerate your schedule, perform code audits to determine how your existing software can be improved, or offer multi-day training (your-site or our-site) to ramp up your team.