Designing for the web presents challenges and limitations, but also offers enormous opportunities to dynamically enhance brand communication efforts between business and customers. Knowing what those limitations and opportunities are allows us to successfully implement web savvy solutions.
Software, hardware, and data transfer technologies are changing rapidly. We firmly embrace the future and long to share our fascination with the constantly changing marketplace.
Our Web services offer a full range of capabilities including design, animation, programming, Web-based commerce options, marketing support, and hosting solutions. Designing a Web site is a journey. Intelligently charting the journey can make the difference between success or a project that careens out of control. At Miller Design, we break the Web site design process into three stages:
The beginning of any web site project starts with asking and answering essential questions:
- Why is this Web site needed?
We target the problem you want the Web site to help solve, and identify the possible functions the site can provide. A Web site is crucial in establishing brand recognition, and can provide much more than brochure information. Defining the target need is essential to shaping a solution that works. An online shopping cart is just one example. One of the main challenges in Web-based commerce is generating confidence - in the stability of the seller, in the support behind the product, and in the sales transaction itself. Our focus and passion is designing a cohesive shopping cart experience that allows the user to have complete control and confidence.
- Who will it need to communicate with?
We identify who the target audience is so that we can make the design solution as relevant and aesthetically compelling to the particular viewers as possible. Targeting also helps to determine what Web programming and technologies we will utilize, based on the equipment the audience uses to connect to the Web.
- How can the communication be achieved most effectively?
We begin to shape a solution based on the sites needs, functions, and audience. At this early stage, we may determine specifics on how the information needs to be presented, and what is important to help a user take action. We may also determine that the site needs to be very easy to update and expand, or that the menu system need to clearly identify main menu items, sub-menu choices, and an online shopping cart.
- What do you want the visitors to the site to take away with them?
Designing the communication environment should have an immediate and lasting effect on users coming to the site. The experience will effect that person's opinions and actions. At this early juncture, we may decide that the site needs to exude sophistication, or establish technical expertise, or scream its own cutting edge hipness. Sometimes this means that we carry out an already defined image that the client has established. Sometimes this means that we evolve upon a clients image, and sometimes we create a clients image from the ground up. On the other hand, brand awareness may not be important, and that easily accessible information takes priority above presenting a corporate personality.
- What is the content?
At this stage, we identify content, and gather any existing content that a client might already be delivering in print, radio, or multimedia. Identifying and organizing the content will also help establish an initial navigation menu system. We might determine the important, or top layer content from content that can be nested deeper into the site. Additional elements that help keeping visitors at the site, and coming back to the site may be important. Additional elements might be an online weather report, games, free downloads or a related links page.
At this stage we choose the appropriate technologies, design the interface, map out organization, and create a mock up.
- Choosing The Appropriate Technologies
Based on the target audience, and information we gather from the concept stage, we can determine what kinds of online media we'll incorporate into the site. Online media includes sound, motion, interactive capabilities, and static graphics. We may decide to build a site based on HTML, or Shockwave Flash, or a combination of the two technologies. If online commerce is needed, we will investigate custom database options and template based commerce solutions.
- Designing The Interface
What is an interface? The interface of a Web site is the communication environment, or the "instrument panel" that houses the site's content and the navigation menu system. In most cases, the key is to make the navigation straightforward, intuitive, and to provide the user with a sense of control. A Web site's style and it's supporting message of upscale sophistication, homespun quality, or cutting-edge hipness, play a major role in shaping a personality that will be remembered by the user long after specific tidbits of information are forgotten. Our strength is the ability to design a cohesive interface that reflects our clients company, products, and services. Our mission is to create an experience unified by a metaphor, personality, or style that supports and clarifies the communication.
- Mapping Out Organization and Navigation
At this point we establish whether the site will have lots of options available on the surface so visitors don't have to do a lot of digging (a shallow site), or giving visitors a head start on sorting out what's important, by prioritizing the information so that specific topics are layered beneath general categories (a deep site). In general, there should be no more than six to ten main options available on-screen at one time. Having more choices than that creates confusion, so you don't want the site to be excessively shallow. On the other hand, a visitor should be able to get to any point within the site in two to three clicks, which tends to keep the site from getting too deep. Implementing a shallow or deep site will have a major impact on the interface navigation menu system design. At this point, it is also essential to graphically represent a site's structure and organization with a site map.
- Creating The Mock Up
Generally, we create the prototype, or mock up as flat photoshop files that can be posted on the web or sent via E-mail. The purpose of the on-screen mock up is to develop the design just enough to check whether the interface solution is on target and strategically sound. Creating the mock up allows us to easily modify the design, or shift our thinking entirely in a new direction, without committing time to building finished Web coded artwork. For an example of a site in mock up phase, look at our Broadmoor Development mock up site, found under our Web Design category.
After the mock up design is approved, we move into the production stage. The production stage means we begin building the Web site out in final coded format. This doesn't mean that all creative work is finished. In fact, the mock up generally represents only a fraction of the creative design work to be done. Future creative art is created either in Web format, or in mock up format depending on its complexity.
- Building In Optimized Web Coded Final Format
The mock up is now converted to optimized Web format code. In other words, into final Web artwork with all the interactive elements live and functioning, such as roll over buttons, hyper links, animation, and sound. The site is now tested on different browsers and computer platforms to ensure that users are all seeing the same thing. This is no small feat though. Seasoned Web site designers know how valuable it is to know what kinds of limitations and differences to expect on the enormous range of computer platforms, processor speeds, data transfer rates, monitors, browsers, and screen resolutions. It pays to know the road before you start the trip - especially if you're the one driving the bus.
- Assembling & Setting Standards
The production phase also involves assembling the text, images, audio, and navigation elements we planned in the design phase. As we gather some materials and plan to create or buy others, it is important for us to develop standards for the graphic style or personality of the site. One way we do this is by creating a standards manual, or document that outlines elements that will guarantee a consistent look and feel. These elements include typefaces, specific colors, icon characteristics, illustration techniques, photograph treatments, and layout elements.
- Managing, Organizing, Archiving
Since a Web site is a living, growing entity, we carefully build an organized system when creating a site, which allows us to expand and edit the site in the future. This means we develop a sensible naming scheme. We archive work at different stages of creative development. We organize images and assets in logical files and folders. And we make use of every software technology, that handles organization, available to us. Keeping a clean house makes a long term web project on target and on budget.
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