Plan


Where do I start?

The planning stage of creating a web site is a critical part of the process. Jumping in to the technical phase of creating a site before a good understanding of the goals, audience, and requisite content of the site can make the process much more difficult, since each change in the categorization of the information on the site will require re-building of the sites pages and navigation links. It is tempting to jump into the construction phase of this process, partially because the information collection and categorization stage requires much thought and communication. However, these are the exact abilities that will allow the site to be attractive and effective.

 

In order to have a fully functional, engaging, informational site, it is important to ask the following questions:

 

  1. What are the goals of my web site?
  2. Who are my potential audiences?
  3. Who am I trying to reach and why?
  4. What are some of the best ways to reach those people?
  5. How will the answers to these questions influence what content I put on the site, what order and form it will take
  6. What will the tone and design of the site be?

 

Everyone involved should brainstorm information and other content to use in the web site. All stakeholders should reach consensus regarding the site goals and planned content. Below is a list of suggestions, based on experiences from other web site course projects.

 

  1. Have everyone meet in one room at an assigned time.
  2. Have one person facilitate the discussion. This person's role should be to keep the conversation on topic and make sure everyone's input is considered.
  3. Have everyone discuss the goals and audience of the web site.
  4. Have someone write down all agreements for future reference. This will prevent any misunderstandings later in the process after time has been spent creating and formatting the content of the web site.

Before doing anything else, work collaboratively to complete this planning worksheet Checkbox Image