Gathering Content - Page 4
September 18, 2002
Web builders should always determine the who, what, when, where, and why
before writing a sentence of copy or applying the most basic of Photoshop's
filters to an image. By approaching the project as set of questions that need to
be answered, the final product will be better. You'll have fewer questions
about what the site should be and should do at the end of this kind of Q&A.
You will have a road map to getting the right content before you design.
However, the content, the essential part of the Web site, has a strong chance of
being mishandled at the expense of trying to land and turn around business.
If you build a Web site for yourself, either as an independent publication
like an e-zine or homage to the Superfriends television show, the burden
of filling up Web pages with content falls to you. You manage the content flow
and publication schedule. However, when a client hands over his time and money
to you for a Web site, he wants his intended audience to use his Web site and he
wants his super-heroic message conveyed.
Where Things Go Wrong
Typically, Web design studios are still vying for a project when the design
of Web site is determined. This usually happens when a client is presented an
image of what his new Web site will look like. The image is called a
comp, which is a concept artwork depicting what they see a client's
site could potentially look like if they hired the designer or designers.
Regardless of what this artwork turns out to be, the comp is still an
artist's rendering, a weather forecast that always shows a beautiful
day.
The goal from the developers' perspective is to get the client's
business, and if providing eye candy will get the job, so be it. The
effectiveness of the site depends on how well the designer or designers who are
working on the initial artwork are at forecasting the content requirements for
the project.
This method of creating Web sites could be satisfactory for sites that are
destined to stimulate art pieces at the whim and desecration of the designer.
Firms, boutiques, or freelancers who build the sites are usually paid to fulfill
real business objectives and reach intended customers.
I am not implying that clients just grab the Web designer with the best knack
for keen eye candy. A client typically will want to ensure that the project can
be handled correctly. Most clients will approach their Web site with a clear
head and have a list that is a mixture of wants and needs for their business to
succeed online. However, if a client is presented a comp, he forms preconceived
notions of how the site will look and be structured.
Instead of the audience being the approach to the end product, the Web site
shown in the artistic rendering becomes the approach. If a client chooses a
design presented to him (and likes other aspects of the job proposal), the Web
site studio wins a check and signed contract. The work of "strategic
development" begins then.
The tasks in strategy development include competitive analysis, content
development, strengths/weaknesses assessments, functionality reports, and maybe
even target demographics. You should address these missions to answer key
questions at the start of a Web project so that you can have a pure
understanding of where the design of the site should go.
Additional Resources - For more reading about the process
of Web development and client relationships, I recommend these books:
-
Collaborative Web Development: Strategies and Best Practices for Web
Teams by Jessica R. Burdman. (Addison-Wesley, 1999) ISBN: 0201433311.
-
Secrets of Successful Web Sites: Project Management on the World Wide
Web by David Siegel. (Hayden, 1997) ISBN: 1568303823.
-
Web Redesign: Workflow That Works by Kelly Goto and Emily Cotler.
(New Riders Publishing, 2001) ISBN: 0735710627.
In the place of an appropriate site is an appropriate mess. The once beautiful
site that the client signed off on (see Figure
1.10) now will have been produced and then diluted to fit the content and
functionality. In time, the site will grow into a monster of links, badges,
and animations that will override any key messages that the client wants to
convey (see Figure 1.11).
Figure 1.10
In this redesign for Datamax Corporation, the layout is clean and simple.
Figure 1.11
A few months later, the home page for Datamax Corporation is awash in links to
various subsections and graphics elements that conflict with each other for the
user's attention.
These types of sites are often hard to navigate, long to load, and lacking in
key content. The content that is available will miss the intended target
audience. As if an underperforming site is not enough, the client then spends
even more money and time to the same designers to "fix" the problem
with a new redesign. Thus, the cycle begins anew with a new comp to land the
redesign.
Additional Information - For more
information on the subject of evolving tools, see Stewart Brand's book,
How Buildings Learn: What Happens After They're Built (Penguin USA,
1995). The books tells you how buildings adapt to the owners of a home or an
office.
To have a successful Web site, your visitors need to feel that they
"own" the site. You can do this by reaching out to them by continually
asking for ways to improve the site or asking them to participate in discussions
on the site. You can draw a parallel to people who move into a brand new house.
The architect might have an idea in mind for how this house would be best used:
an environment for a mother, father, and their 2.3 kids for the rest of their
lives. However, what happens to the house when a single parent who has a child
of her own and several foster kids moves in? The house changes to the new needs
and wants of that family. The house changes on the inside and outside, but the
framework stays the same. For example, rooms that were designed to entertain
houseguests are transformed into ad hoc bedrooms, and the backyard garden turns
into a mini football field.
You can avoid having a house that changes often by making sure you are
building correctly for your audience. Of course, it's not the end of the
proverbial world if you realize that your Web site isn't making the most of
its resources. Simply think of yourself as a live-in architect: re-examine your
message and ask your audience for input on how to make the house better.
Liberation Through Audience Limitations - Page 3
Designing CSS Web Pages
Getting the Content Right: I've Learned This Lesson Before, But Never Like This - Page 5
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