- The Purpose
- "Common Language"
- Process Overview
- Project Roles
- Review
The Purpose
The purpose of this tutorial is to increase productive communication between a website design agency and a new client.
This tutorial meant to instruct a new client in the basic website design process which will help create a common language between the client and the agency.
This common language would include the following concepts:
- Basic steps in a website design and development
- Project roles and responsibilities
- Common website design deliverables and their purpose
- The interdependencies of roles and necessary work
The Goal
The ultimate goal of this tutorial is to increase productivity and satisfaction on a website design project.
The assumption is that by establishing a universally understood design process, everyone involved with a website project is in a position to provide greater individual value and a more productive group dynamic.
The Benefit
The benefits of the client establishing a "common language" with the website design agency can manifest in a variety of ways, including:
- Minimizing unproductive miscommunication
- A greater ability to anticipate and compensate for project hindrances
- An increased capacity to provide a higher quality of participation and contribution
The Audience
This instruction is geared towards the client or sponsor of a website design project. Their level of experience should at least be of someone who regularly uses the internet.
Tutorial Layout:
The tutorial is broken into three stages:
- The introduction (which is where you are currently)
- The tutorial
- A final quiz
Tutorial Instructions:
- Read thought the next few tabs of the introduction and then move onto the tutorial.
- The each chapter of the tutorial will have a review quiz.
- The tutorial ends with a final quiz. There is no grading for these quizzes; they are merely a tool to help you retain what you learned.
"Speaking a Common Language"
How many times have you felt your lack of knowledge was preventing you from doing your best in a given situation? How many times have you been required to participate in a project or task but your complete lack of experience has left you at the mercy of the experts?
Imagine if you had a better understanding of what it took to fix your car. You don't need to be an automotive expert. That is what you are paying the mechanic to be. But think if you had a basic understanding of how your car works and how a mechanic approaches fixing your car.
Chances are you would feel more in control of the situtation and possibly able to offer insights into your car that the mechanic didn't know about. Your contribution could assist in getting your car up and running in a more timely fashion.
The same idea applies as a client when starting a web design project with an interactive agency.
You don’t need to be an expert in the design process, but by understanding some of the basics of how a website is created you would communicate better with the design team, which in turn can:
- Add value to the design process
- Ensure that your project meets your definition of success
- Make sure the final website reflects what you need it to
*Cartoon appears courtesy of Joe Martin. © 2007 Neatly Chiseled Features, all rights reserved
Process Overview
Waterfall Process
There are as many ways to build a website as there are reasons to build a website. Each project will have its own unique goals and its own special way of approaching a website project. This tutorial doesn't assume to take every project management style into account. We are going to use one process for our purposes.
The basic website design process shown here is the most common one in use today. It is a variation of the software development “waterfall method” of project management. It takes its name of "waterfall" due to its characteristic of moving only one direction in a linear completion of project tasks. Once one task completed, it is finished and not to be revisited. The work is to only flow forward, like a waterfall.
The different steps in the project can be broken down a multitude of ways from very broad groupings to minute, granular tasks.
For our purposes, this tutorial divides the overall project cycle into four major phases:
- Strategy – The assessment and planning
- Design – Visual and conceptual design
- Development – The implementing the needed technology
- Quality Assurance – Check and ensure that the project goals are being met
Project Roles
The project phases and activities are the focus of this tutorial but first let’s define who participates in these activities.
The following is a list of the most typical team roles in a web design project. There are variations of these roles found on different projects and some specialized positions aren’t represented.
The Sponsor
Another name for the sponsor is the client. The sponsor is one of the most critical roles in the successful completion of a web design project. The sponsor is the expert about the client organization; what their goals are, their business objectives, their culture. Without extensive participation from the client, the design team cannot hope to deliver a product that meets the client’s needs.
Producer
The title "producer" includes account and project managers. These are the big picture people that focus on keeping the project team on task and making decisions that support the overall project goals.
They are usually the single point of contact between the client and the agency teams, and act as the client advocate when the client can’t be present during the project.
Traditionally, producers do not come from any one discipline in the design agency but usually know enough about all aspects of the process to be considered a generalists.
Editor
The editor is responsible for the copy and message of the website. Sometimes this position is strictly a strategic role that is tasked with setting the voice of the message and overseeing the content acquisition. Other times this position is primarily acting as a copywriter, taking the tone set by the client‘s brand guidelines and executing it by creating the necessary copy.
Information Architect
The information architect is responsible for the underlying structure of the website and goes a long way in making the website usable, intuitive and well organized. The effects of the information architect’s work reaches into all other disciplines (strategy, graphic design, development, content, etc.) and as a result, the information architect must be a generalist and collaborate extensively with their team members.
Designer
The designer is the most well know position on a web design team as their work is the most obvious. The graphic designer is responsible for creating the primary emotional connection with the audience. Through visual means, the graphic designer is responsible for relating the personality and message of the website as well as effectively presenting content.
Front-End Developer
The front-end developer takes the work of the designer and information architect and makes it functional. They build the “surface level” or “presentation layer” of the website, which is another way of saying that they code the part of the website that the user sees and interacts with on their computer.
Back-End Developer / Database Engineer
The back-end developer is usually only engaged with websites that require dynamically generated content and/or data manipulation. They are the builders of the website’s data and content repositories. Depending on the project goals, back-end functionality can dynamically provide content to the audience that is relevant specifically to them, making their experience focused and personal. Back-end developers can provide a wide variety of functions for websites, including eCommerce, account creation and maintenance, and the gathering of analytic data.
Introduction Review
Click the button below to launch a quick review of this introduction. Once you are done, close the review and start the tutorial.
- Tutorial Objectives
You will be able to:- Relate the basic tasks/concepts involved in designing and developing a website
- Explain the inter-dependencies between the tasks
- Use the terminology common in the design/development process
- Tutorial Benefits
- Universally understood expectations
- Greater ability to anticipate project hindrances
- Increased capacity to be involved in the creative process
