An Overview of the Website Creation Process
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With any relatively new communication medium--and the ensuing desire to use
it--comes the uncertainty of what is involved and how to use it. The Internet,
more than any other recent development, is full of technical terms, jargon, and
concepts that may seem too daunting to grasp--and just a bit overwhelming. One
consolation is that just like any other publishing and marketing venture,
creation of a website entails the same elements of design, production and
distribution, with living and breathing people within the creation process. If
not already read, see Choosing a Web Production Company to get an idea of the
important things to consider when contemplating that creative team.
Web publishing is a necessary collaboration, from the seemingly intangible
design process to the actual placing of HTML and other types of code to create a
page for the website. There are often several people required (especially the
client) to plan, create and promote a successful website. The creation process
itself can be divided into the following project steps:
Planning & Managing the Project--Again, with any publishing and
marketing venture, it is necessary to pull together ideas and expertise of each
member of the creation process. A person in the role of "producer"
often oversees this throughout the creation process. With the newness of the
Web, special care must be taken to ensure that all in the project (again,
especially the client) are clear on what is involved and what is expected of
each person before actual production commences.
Defining the Website Goals--What purpose will the website serve? This
may be the point where a client and producer determine that Internet publishing
may not be the best option, or at least, a variation of the typical production
process may come into play. With the Internet, a balance of sorts must be
achieved between flash and form, as there are still limitations of the
technology. This will be taken into consideration at this point. Also, a form
called a "client brief" (see also The Client Brief with this page)
will be viewed and completed by the client and signed off on by each person who
will have input. This ensures that each member of the creative process is
"on the same [Web] page" in terms of expectations.
"Information Architecture"--Only now can the planning of the
actual website content begin. The marriage between the site goals and actual
implementation (how it's going to work onscreen) begins here. The ordering of
the site contents is of paramount importance--if a site is not pleasing to the
eye and easily navigable, the site will have gained and lost a viewer at the
same time. Hence, the "blueprints" of the site are made to make a site
pretty and practical to attract--and keep--repeat visitors. It can be called a
"branching diagram", "flow chart", or even a
"storyboard"--it all comes down to a pictorial layout of what pages
the site will have and what information will be on them. With this page is a
blank branching diagram to view. As the old adage says, a picture is indeed
worth a thousand words.
Interface Design--At this time, after all the pictures are drawn, the
project team knows what information is to be on each page and can plan and
implement in more detail. This is called "page architecture." The
decisions are made as to what standard elements will be on each page, how they
will relate to each other on the screen, and how they will interact with the
rest of the site. This step will determine how the pages will work.
Content Creation--Now that there is an actual structural plan and the
"look and feel" of the site-to-be decided upon, content creation--the
"fleshing out" of the site--may begin. This can include copywriting
and editing, graphic design, animation, multimedia--any aspect that may enhance
the site's effectiveness without encumbering it. Bells and whistles for the sake
of bells and whistles is not on the agenda. It is essential that the client and
the creation team remain in agreement about the intent of the site.
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