The Steps to a Successful Website Design Project

Firstly, what do we mean by web design ?

Web design is the creation of a visual support which will enable the birth of a website : its aim is, in an aesthetically pleasing manner, to portray the identity of the organisation or business it represents and appeal to the user or potential client. Web designers should be particularly attentive to the usability and accessibility of the site. User and content are of paramount importance, so the web site should be user-friendly.

Website design require competence in several areas :

– graphic design (using softwares such as Photoshop or The Gimp …);

– coding in HTML and CSS;

– programming (PHP, for example);

– animation (for example, Flash);

– knowledge of technical constraints in the field (respecting W3C standards, accessibility);

The steps involved in a website design project :

Defining Site Goals

The primary stage consists of defining the focus of the web site and its target audience. What do you want it to achieve for your business ? What does your audience want to find ? How can we build a strong visual identity on the web ?

It’s essential at this early stage to have a coherent idea of what the final content will be because websites are primarily driven by content, which plays an important role in how the information is made available to the site users (e.g. web site layout and hierarchy, navigation or linking scheme).

Creating a diagram

And on to the creation of a proposed site map : a diagram will clearly indicate the hierarchy, the various sections and how they link to each other.

Creating a prototype

A mock up will then be built : it’s a dummy version of the web site, a static prototype created with a graphic software. The aim of this is to show what the design of the site will look like : this allows clients to make any comments they may have and to see what the website will look like, before embarking on to the main stage, the building of the actual live website.

Coding and testing the site

And last, but certainly not least, the really technical part : the coding and programming, which is then followed by the various tests that the site will need to undergo to make sure it is compliant with W3C web standards and accessibility.

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