Plan Before You Build

Posted on October 16, 2011 by Alfredo Scaini

So you’re going to build a web site and someone is going to pay you for your work. Awesome, but where do you start?

Start with a planning phase. In this phase you will gather requirements, ask questions and understand what the client is in need of. This is sometimes different from what the client has asked for because not every client understands the capacity and capability of the web.

Once you have the requirements and understand what is needed, you start with gathering the content/information that is needed and review this information (known as a content assessment), determining how best to organize and lay the content out to the end user so that it benefits them the most.

Also, you should be thinking about the people that will be using this web site (young, old, specific demographic), why they would be using it, and in what way (from their mobile phones, late at night, in their homes or on the road, etc.). Knowing your content and who that content is for are the two biggest things you’ll need when planning out the web site.

Prototyping: More than just a Drawing on a Napkin

Now that you have the content and a good idea of how to organize it, you build your prototype. This can be as simple as a bunch of paper drawings, or as complex as an MS Visio document with all the bells and whistles, but don’t skip this step. Always remember you have to sell your “vision” to the client before you deliver the product to them.

By creating a prototype of what you plan on building you not only help the client in understanding what they’re getting, but you also provide a sense of how everything fits together and any pitfalls that you may not have initially thought of.

Where does Strategy Fit in?

From the very start. You need to know why the client wants this information out there and build the web site in a way that helps them achieve success. Know the audience for this system and build a strategy that will help promote it, maintain it and allow it to scale or change as the years go by. Think about creating a web strategy document and ensure that there are timelines within that document to help ensure strategy is maintained.