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Specification
About the studio
A small web design and development studio for Coventry and Warwickshire businesses, working the way the city's engineers always have.
01
Why "Datum"
On a technical drawing, the datum is the reference every other measurement is taken from. Get it wrong and every dimension that follows is wrong too. For a website, the datum is the customer: what they need to know, and what you need them to do. We fix that first and measure everything else from it.
The name is a nod to the city. Coventry has built bicycles, cars, aircraft engines, machine tools and now batteries, and all of that work depends on accurate drawings and careful measurement. We think websites should be made the same way.
02
How we work
We measure before we build: analytics, search data, what competitors do, what your customers ask. We draw it out as wireframes you can mark up. We build with clean, documented code. And we hand over properly, so you are never stuck with us.
- Measure. Search Console, analytics, a look at three or four competitors, and a conversation with whoever answers your phone.
- Draw. A site plan and grey-box wireframes you can comment on before any design work.
- Build. Lean code, fast pages, accessible forms, structured data and sensible hosting.
- Inspect. Testing on real phones, checking every form end to end, and measuring speed before launch.
- Document. Written notes on how to edit the site, where everything is hosted and who owns what.
03
What your first month looks like
| Week | What happens | What we need from you |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Discovery call, data review, competitor review | About an hour of your time, plus logins for any existing site and Google tools |
| 2 | Site plan and page list agreed; content plan drafted | Feedback on the plan; existing brochures, photos and documents |
| 3 | Wireframes for the main templates | Comments on the wireframes, ideally from two or three people |
| 4 | Visual design starts; copywriting or content gathering under way | Interviews for copy, if we are writing it, and a decision on photography |
Small sites can move faster than this. Larger ones, or projects that connect to other systems, take longer, and we say so at the start.
04
Who we work with
Mostly small and medium businesses within half an hour of Coventry: engineering and automotive suppliers, research start-ups, logistics firms, trades, retailers and hospitality. Some need a five-page site in three weeks; some need a portal that talks to an ERP.
We are a good fit if you want a site that is honest, fast and useful, and you are willing to spend some time telling us how your business really works. We are probably not the right fit if you want a large campaign agency, paid social management or a site built in a day.
05
What we will not do
We will not write fake reviews, promise rankings, invent statistics or lock you into contracts you cannot leave. You own your domain, your content and your code. If you decide to move to another supplier, we hand everything over.
06
Where to go next
See our services, read our case studies, or tell us about your project and ask for a free quote.
Next step
Tell us what the site needs to do
Send a short note about your business and the problem you want fixed. We reply with questions, a rough approach and a free quote.