Hands On Approach To Site Development

Many sites are launched every day. Some are good, and some aren’t. One of the main reasons I think small projects fail is because not enough thought is given to the process. Most folks start up Photoshop, design a site and put it online. Most of the times, this will result in time being spent afterwards on changing and adapting your site because it wasn’t really clear what it was supposed to do. Because of that reason I have decided to write this 8 step process for the creation of (my own) projects.

1. Define a Problem

The first step in developing a site is defining what role that site should fulfill. Sometimes this role is predefined by the client or project briefing, sometimes you have to define it yourself, but regardless of who defines it, you need a starting point from which to work. Important questions to ask here are: “Who am I making this for, what will it’s function be?” etc.


2. Find a Solution

Now that a problem has been defined, a solution needs to be sought. In my experience, a “Problem Based” brainstorm does wonders for this. Instead of the traditional way of just wildly suggesting solutions, work in a more structured way. Write down the problem definition and try, with each brainstorm idea to solve one or all of the problems defined.

3. Refine Concept

By now, a concept should start to materialize. Take a look at the concept as it is now. Does it solve the problem defined in step 1? Can it be improved? Once you defined your concept it is time to start the fun parts.

4. Define Tasks

Now that you have a concept, take a look at what the user will be using your site or service for. What is it’s main purpose? Does it have a core function? If not, should it? It is of vital importance to look at the tasks people will be performing on your application or site.

5. Design a Work Flow

Before even starting to make wire frames start thinking about the tasks in step 4. How can these tasks be fulfilled? What can be done to make the fulfillment of these tasks as easy as possible? Map out all the ways possible to fulfill the tasks at hand. Remember, less is almost always more, keep things simple. Don’t overwhelm our users with a multitude of options.

6. Create Wire Frames

Now that you know how tasks will be fulfilled and how they relate to each other, it is time to put that information to use. Because you already know all the different ways to get a task done, it is much easier to design the interfaces which will aid the user in performing these tasks.

7. Define a Visual Identity

This is a rather important step. People tend to be attracted to things that look attractive. Design a visual identity for your product, make sure it is distinguishable from your competitors (if you have any) and that it has easily recognizable features.

8. Build It

By now your project should have a clear structure and goal. There is a visual identity, a work flow and task definition. Time to put all that together. Because you already know how the structure of the site will be (thanks to your wire frames) and you already know what the visual feel should be (thanks to your visual identity) this shouldn’t be all that hard.

This list is by no means complete. It can never be, but it is good starting point from which you can work. And believe me, once some of the boring parts of your project has been decided, the fun parts are even better to do.

technorati tags:webdesign, tips, guidelines, development

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