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Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Needs Analysis For Business Websites

Questions to ask your client before building their website.

This article is most relevant to people who develop standard websites (e.g. a business' web presence). If your main focus is Oregon Lemon Laws applications, this paper may have limited appeal.

Client input is the foundation upon which successful web sites are built. It's absolutely vital that you get your client to articulate their goals in order for you to successfully deliver their project . To help facilitate this process, a number of questions can be asked relating to areas such as target audience, desired look and feel, and what hostgator coupons functionality is required.

A good way to tease out your client's requirements is to use a Needs Analysis document. This is basically a 2-3 page fill in form, full of questions which prompt the client to think about not just the visual elements of their site, but what they are trying to achieve in concrete business terms.

Using a Needs Analysis form provides many benefits. It often acts as the basis for developing a fee proposal or tender. Unless you know what it is your client wants, you wont be able to cost it with any degree of accuracy. Another advantage of a Needs Analysis form is it can present ideas to the client which they hadn't previously thought of. This isn't just a boon in terms of up-selling, it also means features aren't added mid-way or at the end of a project (e.g. client: "I know you've finished my website, but can you just quickly add a photo gallery page?").

The Needs Analysis form I use is broken up into five sections; Company Details, Graphic Design, Business Related, Technical Requirements, and Programmed Features. I will cover some of the questions contained in each section along with the over-all structure of the form.

I always start documents with a short description of what the document is. This is for the benefit of anyone seeing it for the first time (e.g. Document Purpose: this form is used to gather client requirements...).

Company Details - this section is pretty straight-forward, you record information such as the company name, who the main contact is, address, phone numbers, the client's position within the organisation, etc. It's also a good idea to note down any other stake-holders that will be involved in the project, and if the primary contact is able to give approval for the work to begin.

The information gathered in the Company Details section will most likely be needed for producing a quote. It will be especially useful if a sales consultant or business development manager is gathering requirements to hand over to a project manager. From this, the project manager will be able to figure out who's who on a project.

Graphic Design - this section is meant to capture details relating to the website's visual appearance. It is not so much concerned with layout and colour, but rather communication. The information gathered in this section will be most useful to a graphic designer. Good questions to ask the client include; 'what image are you trying to portray?' (e.g. friendly, corporate, innovative, etc), 'what phrase would best describe your website once it's launched?' (e.g. 'these guys look really professional'), 'what's the main goal of your website?' (e.g. sell products online), 'what else are you trying to achieve with your website?' (e.g. promote skin cancer awareness amongst young people), 'what would you like users to low cost call conferencing at your website?' (e.g. register, buy products, etc).

You also want to ask if the client's logo and branding material is ready. Your graphic designer will want to get his hands on any digital files as soon as possible (e.g. logos, product photographs, etc). Connected to this, you may want to ask the client if they have a style guide. The topic of Flash vs. static HTML also needs to be discussed since there may be SEO and cost implications.

Another important subject is the intended audience of the website. Questions you could ask include; who is your intended audience? what's their typical occupation?, what is their age range?, is it mostly male or female?, how often do they use the Internet?

You can ask the client to show you some websites they like and have them explain what it is about each site that appeals to them (e.g. client: "I like the clean layout of the site", "the animated banner is really cool", etc). If you know that your client likes a particular style of navigation, it makes sense to use that style for their website.

Notice that none of these questions have to do with layout or color schemes (e.g. where the navigation should be, what font should be use, etc). These considerations should be left to the graphic designer, after-all, they are the expert.

Business Related - these questions aren't directly connected to the visual appearance or functionality of the website, but they may have an impact on the project itself. For instance, you would want to ask questions like: is your content ready?, how are you planning to market your website once it launches?, are you open to developing in stages to manage costs?, do you require an SEO strategy?, are there time constraints (e.g. client: "we need it ready before we go to a trade show in November", or "we are printing a brochure next month and want to refer to the website")?

You may wish to ask a few questions about the client's competitors, such as; do your competitors have websites? what do you like about your competitor's websites?, what do you dislike about your competitor's website? Sometimes finding out what someone doesn't like can be a great help in determining what they do want.

Probably the most significant of the business related questions is about content. Lack of content can be a real killer. A wonderful website may be developed, but if the content isn't ready, the site is effectively in limbo. One way to help reduce the risk of this happening is to recommend early on that the client engage a content publisher.

Technical Requirements - these questions are mostly system administration related. For instance; you want to find out if the client already has a hosting provider organised. You also need to know if the client has registered their domain name or if they want you to register additional web addresses on their behalf.

Programmed Features - this section covers the interactive elements of the website. Probably the most important goal of this section is to establish the information architecture of the site. This can be done by asking the client what sections their website should have (e.g. press releases, our work, testimonials, etc). The client may also have a need for interactive pages which require custom coding (e.g. sign-up form, news articles, member's login, photo gallery, etc).

Other significant questions would include; are you planning to sell anything online?, do you require a CMS?, does your site need to work with an existing database?

You'll generally find that only about 80% of the form's questions are relevant to any particular project. That being the case, it makes sense to remove or cross-out irrelevant questions before meeting with your client (e.g. you would probably know before-hand if any e-commerce facilities are needed).

Another idea is to pre-fill as much of the form as possible. Besides the obvious benefit of saving time in the face-to-face meeting, it demonstrates you've paid attention to verbal requirements which may have already been discussed.

Louis Marshall, Project Manager

My tech blog: pm4web.blogspotpm4web.blogspot

Oprah's Favorite Things 2008

The secret is out now at least one person knows when Oprah's favorite things 2008 is. In case you do not know it is Wednesday the 26th of November 2008.

But wait there is more.

Now you think adverse credit remortgages is the end of it.you know the date, but no, wait. This show is going to be different.

Everything in Oprah's favorite things 2008 show will be in line with the current financial climate.

What does this mean?

It means that everyone is tightening their belts and watching their pockets and this year all the items will reflect this.

It does not mean that everything in Oprah's favorite things 2008 will be made from matchsticks. It just means there will be a reflection of the current financial climate.

After all you do not want to break the bank or dig around trying to find money to pay for presents when there is so much uncertainty. So Oprah has made sure every one web hosting service comparison afford what is on Oprah's favorite things 2008.

Oprah realizes this and has taken this into account. After all once people see what is on the Oprah's favorite things 2008 show everyone knows that they will go hog wild to get it. They will be scrambling over each other to get every last item.

So what is on the show this year. Well if you are in the know it is not too hard to figure out. Even if you are not you can have a very good guess. Are you with me? I could go on and on but I am sure over days,weeks and months after the Oprah's favorite things 2008 show, sales will be off the scale for all the items.

What you can be sure of though is this. Everything on Oprah's favorite things 2008 show will be flying off the shelf quicker than you can see it. Everyone will just have to wait and see as to what these items are though.

You can breath a sign of relief though, knowing you will not have to empty the bank to pay for it. You just have to find it in the shop.

For more information on seasonsfavoritethingsOprah's favorite things of 2008 please visit sell structured settlement payments at seasonsfavoritethingsseasons favorite things

Jun 17, 2008 Jun 18, 2008 Jun 19, 2008 Jun 20, 2008 Jun 21, 2008 Jun 22, 2008 Jun 23, 2008 Jun 24, 2008 Jun 25, 2008 Jun 26, 2008 Jun 27, 2008 Jun 28, 2008 Jun 29, 2008 Jun 30, 2008 Jul 1, 2008 Jul 2, 2008 Jul 3, 2008 Jul 4, 2008 Jul 5, 2008 Jul 6, 2008 Jul 7, 2008 Jul 8, 2008 Jul 9, 2008 Jul 10, 2008 Jul 11, 2008 Jul 12, 2008 Jul 13, 2008 Jul 14, 2008 Jul 15, 2008 Jul 17, 2008 Jul 18, 2008 Jul 19, 2008 Jul 20, 2008 Jul 21, 2008 Jul 22, 2008 Jul 23, 2008 Jul 24, 2008 Jul 25, 2008 Jul 26, 2008 Aug 4, 2008 Aug 7, 2008 Aug 8, 2008 Aug 10, 2008 Aug 11, 2008 Aug 12, 2008 Aug 13, 2008 Aug 14, 2008 Aug 16, 2008 Aug 17, 2008 Aug 18, 2008 Aug 19, 2008 Aug 20, 2008 Aug 21, 2008 Aug 22, 2008 Aug 23, 2008 Aug 24, 2008 Aug 25, 2008 Aug 26, 2008 Aug 27, 2008 Aug 28, 2008 Aug 29, 2008 Aug 30, 2008 Aug 31, 2008 Sep 1, 2008 Sep 2, 2008 Sep 3, 2008 Sep 4, 2008 Sep 5, 2008 Sep 6, 2008 Sep 7, 2008 Sep 8, 2008 Sep 9, 2008 Sep 10, 2008 Sep 11, 2008 Sep 12, 2008 Sep 14, 2008 Sep 16, 2008 Sep 18, 2008 Sep 19, 2008 Sep 20, 2008 Sep 30, 2008 Oct 1, 2008 Oct 2, 2008 Oct 3, 2008 Oct 4, 2008 Oct 5, 2008 Oct 6, 2008 Oct 7, 2008 Oct 8, 2008 Oct 10, 2008 Oct 11, 2008 Oct 12, 2008 Oct 13, 2008 Oct 14, 2008 Oct 15, 2008 Oct 16, 2008 Oct 17, 2008 Oct 18, 2008 Oct 19, 2008 Oct 20, 2008 Oct 21, 2008 Oct 22, 2008 Oct 23, 2008 Oct 24, 2008 Oct 25, 2008 Oct 26, 2008 Oct 27, 2008 Oct 28, 2008 Oct 29, 2008 Oct 30, 2008 Oct 31, 2008 Nov 1, 2008 Nov 2, 2008 Nov 3, 2008 Nov 4, 2008 Nov 5, 2008 Nov 7, 2008 Nov 8, 2008 Nov 9, 2008 Nov 10, 2008 Nov 11, 2008 Nov 12, 2008 Nov 13, 2008 Nov 14, 2008 Nov 15, 2008 Nov 16, 2008 Nov 17, 2008 Nov 18, 2008 Nov 19, 2008 Nov 24, 2008 Nov 25, 2008 Nov 26, 2008 Nov 28, 2008 Nov 29, 2008 Dec 1, 2008 Dec 2, 2008 Dec 4, 2008 Dec 5, 2008 Dec 6, 2008 Dec 7, 2008 Dec 8, 2008 Dec 9, 2008 Dec 10, 2008 Dec 11, 2008 Dec 12, 2008 Dec 13, 2008 Dec 14, 2008 Dec 15, 2008 Dec 16, 2008 Dec 17, 2008 Dec 18, 2008 Dec 19, 2008 Dec 20, 2008 Dec 21, 2008 Dec 22, 2008 Dec 23, 2008 Dec 26, 2008 Dec 27, 2008 Dec 28, 2008 Dec 30, 2008 Dec 31, 2008 Jan 1, 2009 Jan 2, 2009 Jan 3, 2009 Jan 4, 2009 Jan 5, 2009 Jan 6, 2009 Jan 7, 2009 Jan 8, 2009 Jan 9, 2009 Jan 12, 2009 Jan 13, 2009 Jan 14, 2009 Jan 15, 2009 Jan 16, 2009 Jan 17, 2009 Jan 18, 2009 Jan 19, 2009 Jan 20, 2009 Jan 21, 2009 Jan 22, 2009 Jan 23, 2009 Jan 24, 2009 Jan 25, 2009 Jan 26, 2009 Jan 27, 2009 Jan 28, 2009 Jan 29, 2009 Jan 30, 2009 Feb 22, 2009 Feb 23, 2009 Feb 24, 2009 Feb 25, 2009 Feb 26, 2009 Feb 27, 2009 Feb 28, 2009 Mar 1, 2009 Mar 2, 2009 Mar 3, 2009 Mar 4, 2009 Mar 5, 2009 Mar 6, 2009 Mar 7, 2009 Mar 9, 2009 Mar 10, 2009 Mar 11, 2009 Mar 12, 2009 Mar 13, 2009 Mar 14, 2009 Mar 15, 2009 Mar 16, 2009 Mar 17, 2009 Mar 18, 2009 Mar 19, 2009 Mar 20, 2009 Mar 21, 2009 Mar 22, 2009 Mar 23, 2009 Mar 30, 2009 Mar 31, 2009 Apr 1, 2009 Apr 2, 2009 Apr 3, 2009 Apr 4, 2009 Apr 6, 2009 Apr 7, 2009 Apr 8, 2009 Apr 10, 2009 Apr 11, 2009 Apr 12, 2009 Apr 13, 2009 Apr 14, 2009 Apr 15, 2009 Apr 16, 2009 Apr 17, 2009 Apr 18, 2009 Apr 20, 2009 Apr 23, 2009 Apr 24, 2009 Apr 25, 2009 Apr 26, 2009 Apr 27, 2009 Apr 28, 2009 Apr 29, 2009 Apr 30, 2009 May 1, 2009 May 2, 2009 May 3, 2009 May 4, 2009