Out-of-the-Box
When working with Interactive Design, you may hear us use the term “out-of-the-box.” Out-of-the-box is a term that describes the way any functionality or component our product offers looks and works by default. If you use a component completely out-of-the-box, it means that you can use it without adding any additional hours to your scope of work.
Oftentimes, you may want a change to the look and feel or functionality of an out-of-the-box component in order to meet your goals or something completely new and custom to your site. We use out-of-the-box as a way of understanding what your priorities are and if we need to plan for additional time and effort to customize or build a new component to meet your goals.
Out-of-the-Box Examples
You can find out-of-the-box examples of every component our product offers on our demonstration site. When you use any of the components in that site out-of-the-box, you can expect their look, feel, and functionality to be about the same as what you see there.
Your Options for Customization
Not all websites, content, or ideas will fit our out-of-the-box model perfectly. When that happens, you may want to consider customizing your theme to improve the look and feel or add new functionality and components. Although we always recommend getting in touch with us for a quote based on your project needs, the following general guidelines can help you understand how different types of theme customization can impact your project’s budget.
| Type of customization | Examples | How to get started | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Out-of-the-Box |
| N/A | |
| Look and feel only |
| $ | |
| Modify a component |
| $–$$$ | |
| Add a new component |
| $$–$$$ | |
| Create a new tool or interactive feature |
| $$$–$$$$ | |
| Connect to student information systems or university applications |
| $$$$–$$$$$ | |
| Connect to an outside service or API |
| $$$$$ |