Applications for Web Development CIS 162 Web Client

Applications for Web Development (CIS 162) Web Client Analysis Moving Toward Developing a More Structured Needs Analysis Design

Outline • Additional Client Questions to Consider • General Design Process Review • Time Management ▫ Developing a Gantt Chart • Competitive Analysis ▫ Process and Considerations • Homework

Additional Client Questions to Consider • Creating a New Website ▫ Determining Client Need vs. Want What do your customers want from your web site? Have your customers/users expressed a need for this? What is your business (be concise)? What does your web site do for your business? What do you want your site to look like (make a list of other sites you like)?

Additional Client Questions to Consider • Website redesign ▫ What do/don’t you like about your current website with regard to the following: Page Layout? Site Structure, Easy/Hard to follow? Color Scheme? Functionality, Does it meet the client’s needs?

Hiring a designer: A Client’s Perspective • I don’t know what I want ▫ All I know is I want something functional that looks good, is comparable with my competitors, and features constant color schemes for branding. ▫ I’ll look at other designs that have already been created and ask for something similar. ▫ Hence, it is important that you can take the information I give and help me visualize what it is you think I want. Reference: http: //www. davidairey. com/hiring-designers-client-perspective/

Hiring a designer: A Client’s Perspective • I need control ▫ I might not know anything about the design process, but as a customer — and especially as an entrepreneur and small business owner — I need control over every aspect of my business. ▫ Hence, to keep me happy, you need to give up control over the process. Reference: http: //www. davidairey. com/hiring-designers-client-perspective/

Hiring a designer: A Client’s Perspective • I need control cont. ▫ Show me samples and updates throughout to make sure you are creating exactly what I want. ▫ If I ask for a change you don’t agree with, do it the way I want and the way you think it should be done (provided it isn’t too much extra work) and let me decide what I think is best. Reference: http: //www. davidairey. com/hiring-designers-client-perspective/

Hiring a designer: A Client’s Perspective • I appreciate honesty and quality ▫ I cannot tell you how many designers have told me they’d complete a project to my specifications only to delay the delivery date and the finally deliver something completely different from what I requested. ▫ Whenever I hire a designer who is candidly honest, delivers what I want, and goes above and beyond, I go out of my way to help them in any way I can. ▫ I appreciate someone who goes out of their way to make sure I’m happy, and if you do so, most of the time it will lead to repeat and referral business. Reference: http: //www. davidairey. com/hiring-designers-client-perspective/

Hiring a designer: A Client’s Perspective • I’m unsure about pricing ▫ Many businesses are willing to pay for quality but the fact is that no matter how much your time is worth, there are designers willing to put out decent quality for 1/10 of your costs. ▫ Hence, you need to ensure that your competitive advantage is significant and apparent. ▫ It might not be fair, but that’s what the web has done to the free market. Outsourcing affects everyone. Reference: http: //www. davidairey. com/hiring-designers-client-perspective/

Hiring a designer: A Client’s Perspective • I want you to stick around ▫ Once you have delivered a final project, don’t simply disappear. ▫ Just because I have what I want, this doesn’t mean I know how to use it. ▫ Help me apply the designs you created. No matter how brilliant the outcome, I will look poorly upon your service if you disappear and I have to pay someone else to apply or edit the design. Reference: http: //www. davidairey. com/hiring-designers-client-perspective/

Hiring a designer: A Client’s Perspective • I want you to stick around cont. ▫ It also just makes good business sense to stick around after completing a job. ▫ I’m constantly looking to complete additional design projects. Reference: http: //www. davidairey. com/hiring-designers-client-perspective/

Hiring a designer: A Client’s Perspective • Summary ▫ Overall, I don’t want to keep hiring new designers. ▫ As long as you can provide what I want at a reasonable price, I’ll keep coming back. Reference: http: //www. davidairey. com/hiring-designers-client-perspective/

Class Discussion • Whom (or what business) have you taken on as a client? • Is this client real or fictitious? • Have you already conducted the client interview? ▫ If so, how did it go? What went well/poorly? ▫ Do you have any tips for everyone else? Note: I do have a projects in need of a website! Please contact me ASAP for details.

Design Process General and Detailed Overview

General Design Process Review http: //stevenpautz. com/portfolio/_dev_oldversion/7/web-design-1. pdf

Collaborative Process • • (Detailed Approach) Phase 1: Concept and Consultation Phase 2: Discovery Phase 3: Wireframes Phase 4: Design Phase 5: Implementation Phase 6: Testing and Launch Phase 7: Monitoring and Maintenance Reference: http: //postscript 5. co. uk/process. htm

Phase 1: Concept and Consultation • Start with a discussion on the scope of the project which provides a solid foundation to the whole project before you begin. • Define your project using a Creative Brief which is often referred back to during the project. • By clearing defining the concept, you will be able to map out the goals and requirements of the entire project before moving on.

Phase 2: Discovery • Once there is a clear concept for the project, move into discovery and research phase. • Get to know and understand the exact needs of the project along with research into users needs and goals, target audience or demographic until there is a complete outline.

Phase 2: Discovery cont. • Build a thorough picture of the personality and intended style of the website. • Depending on the scale and complexity of the project, you may move into creating a visual sitemap of the project which is essential for organization of content on larger projects.

Back to Phase 1: Project Scope vs. Creative Brief • Is there a difference? ▫ It depends on your opinion ▫ In general, they are separate yet related documents

Project Scope vs. Creative Brief • Creative Brief ▫ may be provided by the client ▫ gives a broad overview of the project and what they currently perceive as the outcomes of the project • Project Scope ▫ defines specific stages of the project that will lead to a final outcome ▫ defines what is important in the project and what is not ▫ defines a project cost ▫ places constraints on the project, which in turn will help you come up with a more creative outcome that truly addresses the design problem

Creative Brief (in more detail) • What is a creative brief? ▫ the core document for the project ▫ defines the project (what it is about and what are the key elements) ▫ enables the project plan to be developed ▫ the main point of reference during the development process in terms of keeping the project on target ▫ helps us to control scope creep and to focus on the primary goals of the web site

Creative Brief (outline) • What is in a creative brief? ▫ Project Name ▫ Summary Provide a brief overview of the whole project. ▫ Current Situation Describe the current situation - what is not working, what needs to be improved, what is working. Why the project is needed; what is hoped to be achieved. ▫ Proposal Describe the project in more detail. What is needed to be done?

Creative Brief (outline) • What is in a creative brief? ▫ Target Audiences Who is the specific targeted audience? Are there any specific characteristics that these audiences have? ▫ Goals What are the main goals of the project? ▫ Requirements Are there any specific requirements that must be incorporated?

Creative Brief (outline) • What is in a creative brief? ▫ Promotion / Communication Plan How will this project be promoted and communicated? What is the timing for each promotion / communication and who is involved? ▫ Timing What is the deadline for the project? Are there any milestones that must be met? ▫ Project Sponsor Who is the main sponsor and who will be signing-off the project? ▫ Stakeholders Who is involved in the project from an oversight and team perspective?

Project Scope / Site Specifications • The site specification encompasses a concise statement of core goals, values, and intent, to provide the ultimate policy direction for everything that comes next. • Tip: Don't leap into building a Web site before you understand what you want to accomplish and before you have developed a solid and realistic site specification for creating your Web site.

Site Specifications cont. • At minimum, a good site specification should define the ▫ ▫ Content scope Budget Schedule Technical aspects of the Web site • The best site specifications are very short and to the point, and are often just outlines or bullet lists of the major design or technical features planned. • The finished site specification should contain the goals statement from the planning phase, as well as the structural details of the site.

Site Specifications cont. Goals and strategies • What is the mission of your organization? • How will creating a Web site support your mission? • What are your two or three most important goals for the site? • Who is the primary audience for the Web site? • What do you want the audience to think or do after having visited your site?

Site Specifications cont. Goals and strategies cont. • What Web-related strategies will you use to achieve those goals? • How will you measure the success of your site? • How will you adequately maintain the finished site?

Site Specifications cont. Production issues • How many pages will the site contain? What is the maximum acceptable count under this budget? • What special technical or functional requirements are needed? • What is the budget for the site? • What is the production schedule for the site, including intermediate milestones and dates? • Who are the people or vendors on the development team and what are their responsibilities?

Next Steps Competitive Analysis

Competitive Analysis • Outcome Goal ▫ The data you gather must always point toward making a smart business decision • Project Expectations (tangible) ▫ A formal presentation ▫ A written report - well organized, moving from executive summary to appendixes loaded with relevant details.

Competitive Analysis cont. • Who's the competition? ▫ You should be able to obtain a “target list” from your client as part of your interview. ▫ This list will most likely contain, categorically, the same types of businesses. • Completing the “target list” ▫ Don’t look at this from the “business” perspective. ▫ Look at it from the “functionality” perspective. Consider unlikely business competitors that have the same/similar website experience in mind.

Competitive Analysis cont. • Completing the “target list” cont. ▫ How can travelocity. com be a logical competitor of a freight cargo business? Both sites specializes in consumer travel Their site contains functionality that might be universal to all transportation applications (i. e. , departure and destination points are common to freight trucks and airline customers). • Remember to think from the perspective of functionality, not just business practices.

Competitive Analysis cont. • Unknown/Unclear Competition ▫ Find out the company's Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) code and then look up other companies in that same category. Try to find out what the company is striving to achieve with their own Web offering and match targets appropriately. ▫ Check with someone at the company who may have the information you are looking for (usually someone in marketing or business development)

Critical Analysis • What would you critically analyze on a competitors website? ▫ Take about 15 minutes to come up with a general list of things that you would consider important to review as part of a competitive analysis post your results to the class blog

Critical Analysis • Home page ▫ Is it informative? ▫ Does it set the proper context for visitors? ▫ Is it just an annoying splash page with multimedia? ▫ How fast does it load?

Critical Analysis cont. • Navigation ▫ Is the global navigation consistent from page to page? ▫ Do major sections have local navigation? ▫ Is it consistent? • Site organization ▫ Is the site organization intuitive and easy to understand?

Critical Analysis cont. • Links and labels ▫ Are labels on section headers and content groupings easy to understand? ▫ Are links easy to distinguish from each other? ▫ Or are they ambiguous and uninformative ("click here" or "white paper")? ▫ Are links spread out in documents, or gathered conveniently in sidebars or other groupings?

Critical Analysis cont. • Readability ▫ Is the font easy to read? ▫ Are line lengths acceptable? ▫ Is the site easy to scan, with chunked information, or is it just solid blocks of text?

Critical Analysis cont. • Search and search results ▫ ▫ ▫ Is the search engine easy to use? Are there basic and advanced search functions? What about search results? Are they organized and easy to understand? Do they give relevance weightings or provide context? ▫ Do the search results remind you what you searched for?

Critical Analysis cont. • Performance ▫ Overall, do pages load slowly or quickly? ▫ Are graphics and applications like search and multimedia presentations optimized for easy Web viewing?

Critical Analysis cont. • Content ▫ Is their sufficient depth and breadth of content offerings? ▫ Does the content seem to match the mission of the organization and the needs of the audience? ▫ Is the site developing its own content or syndicating other sources? ▫ Is there a good mix of in-depth material (detailed case studies, articles, and white papers) versus superficial content (press releases, marketing copy)?

Critical Analysis cont. • Tip on Evaluating the Competition ▫ Come up with a rating system that works for you as you evaluate different competitors i. e. 1=bad, 2=poor, 3=fair, 4=good, 5=outstanding

Competitive Analysis cont. • General Guidelines ▫ Visit one site at a time, and take the same (or at least, similar) paths through each site. Follow the checklist of criteria. ▫ For each criterion, take lots of notes. You'll refer to these notes when you organize and write your report.

Competitive Analysis cont. • General Guidelines ▫ Try to give a score for each criterion as you complete them. That way you'll have scores for each major category as well as for each site. ▫ If the company that you're doing the analysis for has an existing site, then remember to rate them last. After visiting the company's competitors, this will give you some sense of objectivity. This also provides a good measurement comparison for the readers of your report.

Competitive Analysis cont. When you're ready, you'll need to do some number crunching in order to evaluate the effectiveness of your competition. • View the link I posted, titled: How to conduct a Web site competitive analysis, for details.

Competitive Analysis cont. Once you have competed the numerical comparisons, you will need to formulate and elaborate on your conclusions, in the form of a report. In many cases, you will give a formal presentation on your findings for the purpose of sharing your results with the key business decision makers

Time Management Gantt and PERT Charts

Time Management Gantt Chart • What is a Gantt Chart? ▫ Simply, it is a time and task management tool. ▫ A clear overview of tasks that allow you to identify responsible parties for completing milestones and pebbles within a clear timeframe. Reference: http: //www. softwareprojects. org/project_progress_ganttpert 56. htm

Making a Basic Gantt Chart • How? ▫ This can be done using a specific Gantt charting tool or by using a Modified Stack Bar Chart within Microsoft Excel Reference: http: //www. softwareprojects. org/project_progress_ganttpert 56. htm

Time Management cont. PERT Chart (Project Evaluation and Review Technique) • How does this differ from a Gantt Chart? ▫ It allows you to view the relationship between tasks. ▫ Can task X start before task Y? Do they have to end together? Must they start at the same time? ▫ It shows that a delay of one task, does not automatically mean a delay of the entire project. Reference: http: //www. softwareprojects. org/project_progress_ganttpert 56. htm

Time Management cont. PERT Chart (Project Evaluation and Review Technique) cont. • What is the “critical path”? ▫ These are activities that: Have to be done sequentially Will take the longest in that time frame And a delay in one of the tasks within the critical path, will cause a delay in the entire project Reference: http: //www. softwareprojects. org/project_progress_ganttpert 56. htm

Status Update Homework Assignments (see website for additional details)

Next Steps (Homework) • Research ▫ Read/Review the links that have been posted to the class website ▫ Conduct your own research to discover resources that will allow you to progress through the process of developing your final website, such as links that help you: Develop Interview Questions Define/Create a Project Scope Develop a Competitive Analysis Time Management Tips ▫ I recommend that you update your del. icio. us page (www. delicious. com) to store your course related resources / links

Next Steps (Homework) • Formalize the Process ▫ Translate goals and objectives into site requirements (Project Scope/ Creative Brief /Formal Contract) • Time Management ▫ For your own reference, develop a Gantt and a PERT chart outlining your project timeline, tasks, and responsible participants Be sure to include room for your “projected” AND “actual” start and completion times

Next Steps (Homework) • Evaluate the Current Situation ▫ Perform a Competitive Analysis on at least three competitors, in addition to your company’s website (4 total)

Any questions?