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Many website start-ups plan to fail, because they fail to plan. Good planning will circumnavigate future potential developmental problems. VSI Web design uses the following process model for each new project. |
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| This phase involves assessing, at a detailed level, what problem or challenge the website is designed to solve. This includes: |
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Purpose & Goals
Why do you want a website? What is the purpose of the site? What is it trying to achieve? It is important to be as specific and measurable as possible. This will ensure it is possible to validate after a specific time whether the site has been successful or not, and what modifications might be necessary. |
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User Identification
It is important to interview potential users about their wants and needs. Website's are often designed for designers and fail to meet the needs of the user. Always design with users in mind. You should know where your users will be located (home, office, cyber-café etc.), how old they are, what gender, what language, technical proficiency, Internet connection type, computer used, browsers used etc. |
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Brainstorming
Start by developing a wish list for the site, which should include all ideas. Eventually the list will need to be narrowed down to what is reasonable and appropriate for the site. |
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| This phase involves gathering the website requirements and tailoring solutions to meet these needs. Areas include: |
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Content
What type of content will there be? |
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Technology
Will the site require a Database, Flash animation, Pop-out menus, Search facilities, shopping cart etc. |
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Design
What look and feel is appropriate for your organization? What image needs to be conveyed? |
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Delivery
What are the hosting requirements for the site? |
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Staffing
It is important to appropriate sufficient resource to execute the site properly. This includes assigning man hours devoted to site content preparation and organization. This area is often overlooked which can often slow the site development considerably. |
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Timeline
It is important to have design and content delivery time frames to mitigate website launch delays. |
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Maintenance Plan
All website need regular maintenance. This includes, adding new content, removing obsolete content, fixing broken links etc. |
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| This phase requires developing solutions to the previous analysis phase. |
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Concept Design & Prototype Development
Create the graphic design for the website, then present concepts for client feedback and approval. |
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Website Construction
This involves coding the design into web pages. At this stage interactivity, if required, is added to the site, such as Databases, a Mailing List, Bulletin Board, Search feature etc. |
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Beta Site Implementation
This involves putting real content into the site and integrating back-end components and interactive elements. |
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Testing
Testing is probably the least popular aspect of Webdesign, but one of the most important. It involves user acceptance testing, platform and browser testing, functionality testing and content proofing. |
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Uploading The Site
Uploading of the site to the client’s server. |
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Post Implementation Review
Were the site goals satisfied? |
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Maintenance:
After the site is completed a website maintenance plan should be implemented. |
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