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CO1552 Web Application Development

The Web Design Process

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The First Step First, define your goals

Without a clearly stated mission and objectives the project will drift, and become bogged-down

Careful planning and a clear purpose are the keys to building an effective Web site

Make sure you know the answer to these key questions What is the mission of the organisation? How will creating a Web site support this mission? What are the immediate goals for the site? What are the long-term goals for the site? What Web-related strategies will you use to achieve those

goals? How will you measure the success of your site?

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What Are Your Goals? What is the purpose of the website? Why is it required? How will you know if these goals have been

achieved? Plan for Design, Construction and Evaluation

periods Specific quantitative (numerical) and qualitative

(other) measures of achievement to enable evaluation of the site

Consider the long-term editorial management and technical maintenance

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Know Your Intended Audience

You need to identify the potential users of your web site. Structure the site design to meet their needs and

their expectations The knowledge, background, interest and

needs will vary from: Novices to Expert users Young to old Fully able to disabled

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User Needs For casual browsers:

Mix of graphics and a clear statement about the content Links should point inward, towards pages within your site Provide a concise statement of what is in the site

Novice and occasional Users These users depend on an unambiguous structure and

easy access: They may be intimidated by complexity.

Infrequent users will benefit from: Overview pages, maps. Design graphics and icons that trigger memory

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User Needs Expert and Frequent Users

These users will use your site to obtain information quickly and accurately

They may be impatient with graphic menus that only offer a few choices at a time

Expert and Frequent users generally have specific goals

International users Remember you are designing for the World Wide Web:

From Blackburn to Bombay & Beyond! Avoid professional jargon or technical acronyms in

your introductory or explanatory pages

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A Content Library Once you have an idea of your Web

site’s mission and general structure, you then need to start assessing the content you will require Build a library of any existing content Identify, gather and create any new

content that is required Neither of these tasks is easy…..

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The Site Development Process

Every significant web project poses unique challenges

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Major Stages Web sites generally follow six major

stages:1. Site definition and planning;2. Information architecture;3. Site design;4. Site construction;5. Site marketing;6. Tracking, evaluation and maintenance.

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Site Definition and Planning

Production: External Influences

Who are the users who form the target audience? What do they want out of of the site?

Internal influences Who will manage the process? In-house; bought-in skills; or a Mix?

User Technology: What browsers and operating systems? Network bandwidth of average user? How will users reach support personnel?

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Site Definition and Planning

Regulation What legal constraints are there?

Copyright Data Protection Act Accessibility

Web Server Support: In-house Web server or outsourced to Internet

Service Provider (ISP)? 24/7 Support and Maintenance? Common Gateway Interface (CGI),

programming and database support?

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Site Definition and Planning Contd.

Budgeting: Salaries and Benefits Staff Training Outsourcing fees Ongoing Personnel and Technical support New content development and updating Software, Hardware and staff Training

Costs Estimate ongoing ‘maintenance’ costs

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Information Architecture The content of the Web site:

Assess what you have and what you need

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Site Design At this stage the project acquires its look and feel

Overall graphic design standards are created and approved The goal is to produce all of the:

Content components Functional programming for the final production stage

Prototype the web site: A Concept image, to assess

position of elements, colours, typeface acceptability

Then a Multi-page prototype, to assess site navigation

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Site Construction Only at this late stage of the project are the

bulk of the site’s Web pages filled with content This will minimise any mistakes by rushing to

create the pages too soon Once the site has been constructed, it is

ready for testing: Beta testing (outside of the Development Team),

ideally with key users

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Marketing The Web site should be an integral part of all

marketing campaigns The URL for the site should appear on every

piece of correspondence the organisation generates

If this is a commercial site then it may be advisable to seek placing web adverts or Google listings to increase traffic

Traffic to the site should be monitored to assess the impact of any specific marketing campaigns

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Tracking, Evaluation & Maintenance

An abundance of information about visitors to the Web site can be recorded

Even the simplest site can log and track how many users have visited, what pages they visited and in what order

Can be used to develop quantitative data on the success of the whole site or on specific aspects of the site

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Maintaining The Site Don’t abandon the site once it “goes

public” Keep content “current” The aesthetic and functional aspects of a

Web site need constant attention Someone will need to look after these

thingsDon’t let the site go stale