Purpose of this document is to help you think about specific plannning required to design and build a web site that successfully meet project goals.
The Intent
- What are the goals of this project?
- If you have multiple goals, what are the 2-3 primary goals for the project?
- How do you expect you will you achieve your goals?
- How will you define and measure success for your project
- What is the project budget?
- What is the timeline for project milestones?
- What are you attempting to achieve with the development of a web site?
- For your site, which is more important: functionality/application or look & feel?
- What do you perceive as the single most important feature of the site?
Content Development
- Who will be designated as project manager? Are they authorized to make final decisions on all aspects of the site? If not, who is?
- Will content on the site change on a regular basis? How often: Daily? Weekly? Monthly?
- If content changes, who will prepare the content and add it to the site? Are they web savy?
- Who will be responsible for writing new content and editing existing content?
- Who will be responsible for writing news stories and posting calendar items after the new site launches.
- If you are not providing finalized content, will you be looking for someone for copywriting/editing, procurement of stock photos and any other content?
- Do you have a technical administrator and/or tech staff who will work directly with the Institute's producers, programmers and developers?
Design/Graphic Elements
- Does your center have established branding/identity standards in place? What specific elements of the branding
need to be incorporated into the web site? Do you have a logo? Established center colors? A style guide?
- What message needs to be reinforced through the graphic elements contained on the site?
- Do you envision the use of photography or illustration on the site? Do you have a preference?
- Do you have a photo archive that we can use for the site?
- Would you like to utilize any multimedia features on the site? (Video or Audio) What value do you feel these add, both to the site as a whole and to your center's identity in general?
Technical and Marketing
- Who is the intended audience?
- How will you market your site?
- What is the age range of the targeted visitor?
- What do you want them to take away from the site?
- What do you want the web site to say about you?
- Who is your competition? Do they have a web presence?
- List 6 web sites that appeal to you. Why did you select these? What elements of those sites would you like to see in your site?
- What is your best estimate on the targeted end-user's web capabilities? Are they tech savvy?
- What is your minimum requirement of browser capability?
- What do you expect your audience's internet connection will be? 28K, 56k or broadband?
Other Considerations
- Are there any forms or features on the site that require users to enter and submit information?
- Are there any features that require database administration? (Calendar of events, course listings, job listing, etc.)
- Is online commerce a feature of the site? Is it a consideration for future phases of development?
- Is there any downloadable content that needs to be on the site? PDF's? Video? Will these need to be converted into web-ready files?
Published: Monday, February 28, 2005