Webmasters can get excited and want to jump right into projects. They may just start designing and developing a working site, especially if it is for a small project. They figure it would be faster to just do it, than the time spent to plan it. This is a mistake!
Recently, I was asked to help a church with a small redesign of their site. They wanted to “really simplify” their existing site down to just a few pages. They wanted to reach only one target audience — as opposed to the many they were trying to address before. I slipped this project into my schedule during a particular busy month. I figured this was simple compared to the major projects I am doing all the time. No need to waste time planning for a small project. I’ll just “knock it out”-“hack it out” quickly. Thus I ignored my own most important rule:
“Always, Always, Always create a project plan and get agreement from all those who may have input into the finished product.”
Oh, I should know better. I had learned this rule long ago and seen its importance many times. But I ignored it. As a result, this small project still lives on months later. It has taken so many twists and turns. All because I did not manage it properly up front by planning it well from the beginning.
So, I’m going to share with you a few action steps I take while planning a web design project upfront. I have used these steps for years as a web developer and consultant. They have resulted in successful projects with clients from large to small, on projects ranging from simple web redesign to full-scale e-commerce applications.
Sean Buscay
www.christian-web-masters.com
Sean Buscay is on a mission to CREATE, ADVANCE, and EXPOUND faith in JESUS using web technology. He is the owner of Christian-Web-Masters.com .