Development Process of Web Design
This phase concentrates on the content and information that is going to be shown/delivered throughout your new website. It basically determines how to quickly and easily organise information so that the user can find it. It does not matter if your website is a simple 4 page brochure site, or a 1000 page content managed intranet – there is always a need for logical structure and organisation of data.
Gathering and Organising Content
This should be done as soon as possible after the project begins. It is essential that you give your web designer an overview to the content that you are planning on having on the website so that they can understand and start to determine the best way to layout the site.
Your web designer should ideally designate someone that is on your team to be responsible for the gathering and disseminating of content.
Auditing Existing Content
If you are working on a website redesign project, there is no doubt that the old website will be full of content – probably out of date content.
Be careful not to fall into the trap of using old, out of date content just because it is readily available. Audit existing content for relevancy and to identify where gaps in up to date content may exist – you can then assign tasks to your project team to gather the missing content or update what you already have. You can then give this all to your web designer to review and integrate into the overall website structure.
Content Outline
Once you have done your part, your website design should be given all of the information and will then create a content outline - a basic document outlining all of content areas including any new material that has been identified.
Sitemapping
Sitemapping involves your web designer laying out content so that you can quickly and easily see how content will be organised. It shows proposed linkage between pages and the main site navigation. The website sitemap should be supplied to you at an early phase after the above has been completed. You should then signoff the sitemap to ensure you are happy with it.
Wireframing
A wireframe is an informational view that shows the content, primary and secondary navigation and image placement of your new website. By having all of these elements in a diagram, you can see what the site will look like before designing begins.
It is important to get a wireframe for different pages on your new website from your web designer as it may be that the homepage is organised totally differently from the rest of the website or sub-content pages. By requesting these, it will ensure that no surprises appear later on.
Website Navigation
The navigation of a website is probably one of the most important factors that your website designer MUST get right – poor navigation will lead to visitors getting frustrated and leaving your website for good.
Buttons, links and graphics can be used to by users to make their way around and can be used to maintain a sense of place. It is important that if you are redesigning a website, do not necessarily rely on the old websites navigation – as it may have been ineffective.
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