Subtopics
:
-Web
Development Team
-Roles
Involved In A Web Development Project
-Issues
on Management of Web Development, Duration, Financial and Co-Operation
Team
management is a collective term used to
describe various strategies and processes that are designed to promote unity and
coordination between the members of a group or team. The goal
for any team management process is to actively involve all group members in
working toward a common goal, providing a means for each group member to
participate in that endeavor. There are a number of different approaches to
forming and organizing teams, as well as overseeing or managing their ongoing
function. As with many management strategies, there is no one ideal mode of team
management that fits every situation and setting.
The Web Site Design and Development Process
There are numerous steps in the web site design and
development process. From gathering initial information, to the creation of your
web site, and finally to maintenance to keep your web site up to date and
current.The exact process will vary slightly from designer to designer,
but the basics are generally the same.
- Information Gathering
- Planning
- Design
- Development
- Testing and Delivery
- Maintenance
Phase One: Information Gathering
The first
step in designing a successful web site is to gather information. Many things
need to be taken into consideration when the look and feel of your site is
created.This first step is actually the most important one, as it involves a
solid understanding of the company it is created for. It involves a good
understanding of you – what your business goals and dreams are, and how
the web can be utilized to help you achieve those goals.It is important that
your web designer start off by asking a lot of questions to help them understand
your business and your needs in a web site.Certain things to consider are:
- PurposeWhat is the purpose of the site? Do you want to provide information, promote a service, sell a product… ?
- Goals
What do you hope to accomplish by building this web site? Two of the more common goals are either to make money or share information. - Target Audience
Is there a specific group of people that will help you reach your goals? It is helpful to picture the “ideal” person you want to visit your web site. Consider their age, sex or interests – this will later help determine the best design style for your site. - Content
What kind of information will the target audience be looking for on your site? Are they looking for specific information, a particular product or service, online ordering…?
Phase Two: Planning
Using the information gathered from phase one, it is time to
put together a plan for your web site. This is the point where a site map is
developed.
The site map is a list of all main topic areas of the site, as
well as sub-topics, if applicable. This serves as a guide as to what content
will be on the site, and is essential to developing a consistent, easy to
understand navigational system. The end-user of the web site – aka your customer
– must be kept in mind when designing your site. These are, after all, the
people who will be learning about your service or buying your product. A good
user interface creates an easy to navigate web site, and is the basis for
this.
During the planning phase, your web designer will also help you
decide what technologies should be implemented. Elements such as interactive
forms, ecommerce, flash, etc. are discussed when planning your web site.
Phase Three: Design
Drawing from the information gathered up to this point, it’s
time to determine the look and feel of your site.Target audience is one of the
key factors taken into consideration. A site aimed at teenagers, for example,
will look much different than one meant for a financial institution. As part of
the design phase, it is also important to incorporate elements such as the
company logo or colors to help strengthen the identity of your company on the
web site.
Your web designer will create one or more prototype designs for
your web site. This is typically a .jpg image of what the final design will look
like. Often times you will be sent an email with the mock-ups for your web site,
while other designers take it a step further by giving you access to a secure
area of their web site meant for customers to view work in progress.
Either way, your designer should allow you to view your project
throughout the design and development stages. The most important reason for this
is that it gives you the opportunity to express your likes and dislikes on the
site design.
In this
phase, communication between both you and your designer is crucial to ensure
that the final web site will match your needs and taste. It is important that
you work closely with your designer, exchanging ideas, until you arrive at the
final design for your web site.
Then
development can begin…
Phase Four: Development
The developmental stage is the point where the web site itself
is created. At this time, your web designer will take all of the individual
graphic elements from the prototype and use them to create the actual,
functional site.
This is typically done by first developing the home page,
followed by a “shell” for the interior pages. The shell serves as a template for
the content pages of your site, as it contains the main navigational structure
for the web site. Once the shell has been created, your designer will take your
content and distribute it throughout the site, in the appropriate areas.
Elements
such as interactive contact forms, flash animations or ecommerce shopping carts
are implemented and made functional during this phase, as well.
This entire
time, your designer should continue to make your in-progress web site available
to you for viewing, so that you can suggest any additional changes or
corrections you would like to have done.
On the
technical front, a successful web site requires an understanding of front-end
web development. This involves writing valid XHTML / CSS code that complies to
current web standards, maximizing functionality, as well as accessibility for as
large an audience as possible.This is tested in the next phase…
Phase Five: Testing and Delivery
At this point, your web designer will attend to the final
details and test your web site. They will test things such as the complete
functionality of forms or other scripts, as well last testing for last minute
compatibility issues (viewing differences between different web browsers),
ensuring that your web site is optimized to be viewed properly in the most
recent browser versions.
A good web designer is one who is well versed in current
standards for web site design and development. The basic technologies currently
used are XHTML and CSS (Cascading Style Sheets). As part of testing, your
designer should check to be sure that all of the code written for your web site
validates. Valid code means that your site meets the current web development
standards – this is helpful when checking for issues such as cross-browser
compatibility as mentioned above.
Once you
give your web designer final approval, it is time to deliver the site. An FTP
(File Transfer Protocol) program is used to upload the web site files to your
server. Most web designers offer domain name registration and web hosting
services as well. Once these accounts have been setup, and your web site
uploaded to the server, the site should be put through one last run-through.
This is just precautionary, to confirm that all files have been uploaded
correctly, and that the site continues to be fully functional.
This marks
the official launch of your site, as it is now viewable to the public.
Phase Six: Maintenance
The development of your web site is not necessarily over, though. One way to bring repeat visitors to your site is to offer new content or products on a regular basis. Most web designers will be more than happy to continue working together with you, to update the information on your web site. Many designers offer maintenance packages at reduced rates, based on how often you anticipate making changes or additions to your web site.
If you
prefer to be more hands on, and update your own content, there is something
called a CMS (Content Management System) that can be implemented to your web
site. This is something that would be decided upon during the Planning stage.
With a CMS, your designer will utilize online software to develop a database
driven site for you.
A web site
driven by a CMS gives you the ability to edit the content areas of the web site
yourself. You are given access to a back-end administrative area, where you can
use an online text editor (similar to a mini version of Microsoft Word). You’ll
be able to edit existing content this way, or if you are feeling more
adventurous, you can even add new pages and content yourself. The possibilities
are endless!
It’s really
up to you as far as how comfortable you feel as far as updating your own web
site. Some people prefer to have all the control so that they can make updates
to their own web site the minute they decide to do so. Others prefer to hand off
the web site entirely, as they have enough tasks on-hand that are more important
for them to handle directly.That’s where the help of a your web designer comes
in, once again, as they can take over the web site maintenance for you – one
less thing for you to do is always a good thing in these busy times!
Other
maintenance type items include SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and SES (Search
Engine Submission). This is the optimization of you web site with elements such
as title, description and keyword tags which help your web site achieve higher
rankings in the search engines. The previously mentioned code validation is
something that plays a vital role in SEO, as well.
Roles Involved In A Web Development Project
There are a number of key roles that must be fulfilled in
order for a web project to be successful in turning visitors into leads and
customers:
Role 1
- Web Strategist
Tying company goals and visitor needs into a website is
perhaps more difficult that it looks. Unfortunately, the most common strategy
here seems to be 'emulation' (copying your competitors), which has led to a glut
of websites with the same problems that seem to have become a 'web standard'.The
Web Strategist should be responsible for creating the overall site strategy and
then developing an actual site map, which will be followed by the rest of the
development team.
Role 2
- Copy Writer
Despite the web's awesome power to communicate with
images, I believe that the web text is still the most important element on a
site. Effective copywriting can capture the imagination of the reader, and
create a highly emotive reaction. Good web copy is always written for a specific
target audience, and often from the point of view of that target audience. Oh,
and there's some need for spelling and grammar checking too.
Role 3
- Graphic Designer
Graphic design continues to be an integral element to an
effective web presence. Good graphic design accomplishes much more than just a
"wow, that's cool" response. We suggest that graphic design supports the overall
site strategy by creating an instant 'that's what I'm looking for' feel, and
also creating a clearly defined flow through the site.
Role 4
- Technical Programmer
Putting all of these elements into an actual site is yet
another role. HTML vs. FLASH vs. PHP, etc. What screen resolution to develop
for? How to facilitate lead capture through forms? etc. Not to mention the
myriad of choice relating specifically to e-commerce - cart choice, credit card
transaction processing, etc. Are all elements that you'll rely on your Technical
Programmer for.
Role 5
- Site Promoter
I read something the other day that said, building a
website is like "putting up a billboard in our basement". Your site promoter's
role is to increase the number of qualified visitors to the site. The key here
is that it should be done in a cost effective manner. Pay-per-click,
partnerships, landing pages, affiliates, e-newsletter sponsorships, etc, can all
be effective if done properly.
Role 6
- Web Strategist (Reprise)
After the site is developed, live, and has some traffic,
the Site Strategist should continue to play a role in reviewing web metrics and
other data such as pay-per-click
management results to determine where
the site still needs work.
SELF REVIEW
The pre-production is refer to the planning process. In this process, we need to analysis, planning and design the web. It is more to create a blueprint of the website. This phase we more focus on target user, message to deliver, purpose of the website and also about the organization of the website.This process is more to planning for interactivity, navigation, usability and interface of the website.
While the production is the constructing of web
site. For example we more concentrate on content research, interface research,
graphic development, animation development,animation development, audio
recording, video recording and web authoring or programming.
The third phase is pre-production. Pre-production
is mean that testing and evaluation for the website. beside that it also related
to feedback from client, product revision and product documentation or packing.
However for a develop educational website,we have at least five members. Members that are contribute are project manager, content area specialist, instructional designer, web developer/ programmer/database administrator and media specialist (graphic artist animator and etc).
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