Web Design Process

Know Your Purpose and Objectives. Why are you building your site? To Educate? Attract visitors? Help people? What do you want your site to accomplish? How can you design the site to appeal to your target audience?

Remember User Goals. Users typically come to a site with a goal in mind. Each link and click should meet their expectations and lead them towards their goal.

Provide Logical Navigation. Keep the site user oriented: Refer them to their previous location and guide them to their next one. Keep navigation consistent.

Remember Site Goals. Site structure should reflect user needs, while at the same time effectively communicating the main message and promoting your (or the companies) objectives.

Design For Consistency. Consistency in user interface is the best way to improve your site's performance. Reusing architecture elements, design elements and naming conventions frees the user's attention for your message while they navigate to their goal. Make sure to have consistent layout and uniform design.

Written Proposal
The written proposal will solidify your project's goal. A 250-word typed purpose of the project. "The Purpose of this project is to... sell, to entertain... to educate... to train... to distribute information..." Include the type of "mood" you want to establish at the site. This may be established via color choices, font choices or graphical layout. Objectives:   What do you want your site to accomplish? You should come up with at least three one-sentence objectives for your site that help fulfill the purpose. Objective tips: Keep your objectives SMART:   Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, Time-limited. A description of the target audience (or your best estimate of who you think will be viewing your website: include age ranges, gender, professional, computer literate vs. beginners on the computer, etc). See following audience types.

Questions to Answer in the Written Proposal
What is the mission statement or summary of your project? What are the basic goals of this project (e.g., branding/identity reinforcement, improved access to information, direct sales, corporate communication, etc.) What outcome will make this project successful? How will you measure success? Will you be able to finish the site with the given schedule requirements? Discuss any identity/branding assets (logos, other artwork, and fonts) or design issues. What type of users do you want to attract? What are your goals for each type of user? What type of "feel" do you want your website to have (corporate, cutting edge example of design? How will you accomplish this: through layout, color choice, font choice, etc? How will your design and layout emphasize your site's objectives?) What icons or images do you plan to use to aid in navigation and identification? Where will content come from? Reference/Inspiration/competition? Give specific URLs. What is your long-term plan for the website?

Create a Sitemap
The sitemap (also called the Flowchart) is just that, a visual map or outline of your project. A sitemap shows how the site will be organized. A sitemap also gives you a visual sense of what pages and sections need to be filled, and it helps you plan navigational elements.

Sitemap
The sitemap will serves as a visual map or outline of your project. A sitemap shows how the site will be organized. A sitemap also gives you a visual sense of what pages and sections need to be filled, and it helps you plan navigational elements. The site map will create a structure from which you can base your design. A sitemap is an outline presented as a box diagram, with lines that display the navigational paths. (Must be created on the computer: create the final version in Illustrator or any other application of your choice). If you are having problems grouping content into categories, try the following exercise:   (interactive prototype?)

Create an Interactive Prototype
At this phase you will also think about the navigation. The interactive prototype will show how users will navigate through site.

The Interactive Prototype will show how the user will navigate through a site. Use text only links, no design necessary. Define a site in DreamWeaver and create all necessary pages. Make sure all pages are linked and have titles. Figure out how many buttons you will have on your home page to link to your topics. This about if the main buttons will have "submenus" or not. How do you want to organize your content in order to reinforce its message? Do you want it to have a splash page then go into the main menu? Note:   This is where you will decide how to organize your files. Make sure to create the file/ folder structures that you will use in your final project.