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The Design Process

In a web-programming book I read recently, the author introduced a fictional scenario to explain why readers needed to design a page layout and create a style sheet for the example application. He basically said that the company web designerwas off getting inspiration from somewhere and wouldn't be back until later in the year. It sounded as if he was implying that designers are prone to flake out and go on vision quests for months at a time, but I'm going to assume the author made that comment in an endearing way, and introduce the same scenario.

Here are the hypothetical details of this scenario: Jim Smith of Smith Services needs a web site. We have his business card and he's eager to get started. Unfortunately, the designer is out of town … wait, that's not a good excuse. Let's say he was injured during a freak dairyS cow stampede while attending the South by South West Interactive (SXSWi ) festival in Austin, Texas. Yeah, that's believable. Anyway, he's out for a few months, and you're on your own. So where do you start? The actual process of developing an entire site or web application includes a lot of steps, but the process of creating a design comp boils down to only two tasks: discovery and implementation.¹

The Process

• Meeting with the cient
• Developing website design (JPEG file)
• Finalize design with the client
• Developing a website story board
• Code the website (HTML, XML, DHTML,ect.)
• Upload website domain name

Meeting With The Client

This initial meeting with the client is a way to ensure that ALL the necessary details are placed on paper for all parties involved to reference. The better you know your client, understand their needs, and appreciate their target audience, the more likely you will build a website that satisfies your client.

Discovery

The discovery component of the design process is about meeting the clients and discovering what they do. This may not feel like a "designy" task, but gathering information about who your clients are and how they run their business is the only way you'll be able to come up with an appropriate and effective design.

Before you schedule your first meeting with your clients, take a few minutes to figure out what they do and how they do it. If they've asked you to design a web site for them, they may not currently have one, but Google them anyway. If you can't find any information about their business specifically, try to learn a little more about their industry before the first meeting. Whenever possible, the first meeting with a client should be an actual person-to-person meeting. Sometimes, distance will dictate that the initial meeting will occur over the phone, but if the client is in town, schedule a time to meet.

Here are a few of the questions I like to ask in initial client meetings even if I've already answered them myself via a search engine:

• What does the company do?
• What is your role in the company? (JPEG file)
• Finalize design with the client
• What information do you wish to provide online?
• Who are your competitors and do they have web sites?
• Upload website domain name

Sometimes I start off with more questions than those listed here—use your imagination and try to come up with some creative queries t hat will really give you more insight into the client organization. If you're a programmer, avoid the tech jargon. If you're a designer, avoid talking specifically about design. Sure, that may be all you're thinking about, but semantic markup, fluid and fixed layouts, and color schemes will likely mean very little to the client. Worse still, these types of conversations can bring misguided design opinions your way even before you get a chance to start thinking about the design yourself.

Finacials

Due to an accounting error, last year we reported a gross profit of $100,000,000 when in fact it should have stated $100,000. Please it is $100,000,000 $100,000.

¹ Reference: SitePoint - Principles Of Beautiful Web Design