Making Plans
"Good fortune is what happens when opportunity meets with planning", said Thomas Edison. Our philosophy exactly.
A designer will provide elegant design. A code geek will serve up cool functions. But will you get a Return on Investment?
Planning
- What is the primary purpose of the site?
- How does this fit into your business & marketing plans?
- What is budget and your desired return on investment?
- Who are the target visitors and how will you get them to the site?
- When they arrive, how will you get their attention?
- What exactly do you want these visitors to do?
- Who else (competitors & others) is targeting these visitors?
Process
- Whom are you addressing and what are the messages?
- How might the visit benefit the audience(s)?
- Brainstorm the components of the overall message.
- Cut the list down to key points.
- Do this from their perspective, not yours.
- Now you've identified what's truly essential.
- Create the initial design brief based on this 'map' .
Pitfalls
- Not identifying prospective visitors' needs.
- Defaulting to design-by-template.
- Including features that are of little or no benefit to visitors.
- Spending too much on creative elements.
- Abdicating development responsibility to designers.
- Diluting the key messages with 'noise'.
- Not asking for the desired action.
Ready to consider the 3 P's? (Planning, Process and Pitfalls). It's time to start your plan: