03 Sep Website Design Project Plan Checklist
First, use this Website Design Project Plan Checklist to plan your next website before you hire a designer.
It is impossible to design a Web site that will EFFECTIVELY meet the client’s needs until you determine EXACTLY what those needs are!
- Planning and Analysis
- Designing
- Building
- Testing
- Implementation and Launch
PHASE 1: Planning
(Client-focused Collaborative Brainstorming)
- First, determine site goals:(use Active voice)
(ie. achieve, increase, provide long-term customer service, build lifelong customer relationships)
- For example, what is the site purpose? (place in order of importance, re-prioritize)
Examples:
- Provide information about the product
- Sell a product
- Increase brand recognition
- Provide help or operational instructions
- Any other goals that come to mind?
- What would the client like to accomplish with the site?
- What is the client’s vision for the site?
- In addition, develop a one-sentence purpose statement
- Next, identify the target audience:
(Knowing the target audience helps with choosing colors, fonts, and content wording)
- For instance, who would they most like to use this site?
- Similarly, considering the client’s goals, who is most likely to use this site?
- Also, create a user profile (refers to the target users group, not an individual)
- Age range
- Gender
- Educational Level
- Economic Situation
- Geographic Location
- Primary Language
- Ethnic Background
- Other unifying characteristics of the target audience (ie dirt bikes, diabetes, club music)
- Then, conduct market research:
- First, review sites that target the same audience
- Next, review sites that have similar purpose
- Finally, review sites with similar goals and vision
- Finally, create end user scenarios:
- Based on all the research, create detailed descriptions of potential end-user scenarios
PHASE 2: Planning
(Information Architecture)
- First, create information architecture
- First, create a Flowchart and site structure
- Next, determine what the site needs to do
- Then, gather all existing content (including brochures, flyers, articles)
- Finally, determine logical categories of content/information (Main categories for site navigation)
- Next, determine aesthetic design
- First, create a site concept and metaphor
- Next, consider accessibility issues
- Then, select a color pallet and fonts
- Also, determine the graphic style (consistent look throughout site) and graphics
- Next, sketch the layout (balance and white space; rhythm and unity)
- Finally, check the design for logic
- Then, create layout
- First, create comps for the final aesthetic design
- Next, draw a visual representation of potential layouts
- Final Review and sign-off
- Finally, review information architecture for logic, including site structure, navigation and content
- In addition, review final design for consistency to ensure that it reinforces site goals and purpose.
Using This Website Design Project Plan Checklist
Finally, keep this Website Design Project Plan Checklist handy when you start your next website project. Get a free consultation or see recent work when you are ready to build.