Website Process (Part 1)

Over the next week or so, I will define my personal process for the creation and execution of a website project. This will be a high-level overview so, while some areas may be very detailed, the goal is to give a general workflow overview that can easily be followed and implemented.

This article will detail the first of the following five process segments:

1. Explore
2. Define
3. Design
4. Build
5. Deploy

Explore

The beginning of every project always starts with a dream. Many times, a client comes with only a seed, and a ton of hope. They don’t know exactly what they need, or how it should be brought to life… all they know is that their idea has great potential, and they want to see it brought to life.

Other times, the client has a good idea of where they want to go, but they just don’t know where to start. This is where the exploration process comes in. Call it brainstorming, conceptualizing or dreaming, but for the sake of this process, I’ll call it exploring.

Be sure to define some initial goals for the project, and then explore the possibilities. Explore the potential failures and successes. Let the imagination run wild and see where it leads. What features can and should be added? What should be left out? How big can it be? How big should it be? Who will use it? How should they feel while they are using it? Will it generate revenue? How will it create value? The questions to ask are limitless, so don’t be limited in your ideas… this is just the beginning phase. You can build it up as big as you’d like, and then scale it back to what is reasonable. It was said of Michelangelo that his sculpture creations resulted from merely releasing the end-product from the confines of it’s block of marble… Just chiseling away the pieces that did not belong. So go ahead and dream… you can chisel it back in the next step of the process.

I have found it most effective to work on a large whiteboard. Just begin writing ideas, drawing sketches, drawing schematic flows, whatever is necessary. The goal is to leave as little white on the board as possible… just let creativity cover the board like ink spilled from a bottle. Let everyone involved have turn at the board, and don’t be afraid to modify, add to or delete from anything. Sort of like a wiki , let the board be alive… keep working at it until there is satisfaction that the dream is turning in to a solution.

Along the way, transfer the ideas to a legal pad for later reference. When you’re finished dreaming, make sure you have good, detailed notes of the process. They’ll come in handy for the next step in the process, which I’ll talk about in the next post.