Designing a website

Step 1 - Planning your site

Setting goals for a company site

Many websites are developed within the context of a company—with employees, projects, and products that have a history both with customers and with each other. Goal-setting is a challenge in this environment, because you're weighing what's best not only for the website and the company, but also for the individuals involved in the project. It's a political process as much as a strategic one.

For have no doubt: websites are political. The site acts as a company's public face, and everyone wants their work to appear prominently on it.

But goal-setting can help. By encouraging co-workers to agree on objective goals—rather than specific, subjective solutions (about where buttons should be placed or what the sections should be called)—you help them see a common purpose and force them to ignore irrelevant conflicts.

The goals you set collectively will help steer your site in the right direction. But the purpose behind goal-setting is not only to chart a clear course, but also to get others on board. This buy-in at the beginning of the process gives you the information you need to be successful.

7 steps to setting goals:

Identify stakeholders, the people in the company with a vested interest in the site.
Interview stakeholders about what they need the site to achieve.
Interview the CEO or someone as high as possible in the organization about what they need the site to achieve.
Interview the web team that will build or work on the site.
Write a consolidated list of goals.
Discuss, revise, and approve goals at a meeting attended by all stakeholders.
Begin work on the site with goals in hand!

A good way to get started on goals is to touch base with each of the key stakeholders. Sit down with them one-on-one, and discuss what they (or their departments) need the site to deliver. It's best to focus this conversation on what the site should accomplish, rather than how it should look or what it should do.

The website acts as a company's public face. Everyone wants their work to appear prominently on it.

In these interviews, you're playing amateur psychologist, journalist, and diplomat. Your goal is not only to take in what stakeholders are saying, but to understand their motivations. Are they fearful for their jobs? Resentful over past wrongs? Competitive with another individual or department? Once you understand their real concerns, you can begin to address them.

In addition to the stakeholders, it's important to talk to the CEO or someone of high status. Nearly every web developer has a horror story about a CEO who pulled the plug on a website just before launch, because it didn't line up with corporate goals, or because he didn't like surprises. The best way to avoid this is to solicit executive opinions early on.

After collecting all these opinions, the producer should write a consolidated list of goals that best represent the company's interests. These goals should be approved by the stakeholders at a meeting attended by all: This ensures that everyone important to the process gets on board behind the objectives and shares an understanding of success.

It's important to emphasize that this meeting is the moment for discussion and dissent: Speak now, cranky ones, or forever hold your peace! After the development process begins in force, you can't modify the goals without jeopardizing the launch date.

Action section: what will you do with your website?

Although websites can grow very complex, they begin with a few simple questions: What do you need from the site? What do your users need? Everything else flows from there.

Determining direction

Why does your organization need a website?

__________________________________________

Why will your visitors need this website?

__________________________________________

Describe what your website will do or be:

__________________________________________

Setting goals

Do different people in your organization have different goals?

Marketing says: ____________________________

____________________________________________

IT says: ___________________________________

____________________________________________

Human resources says: ______________________

____________________________________________

The CEO says: ______________________________

___________________________________________

________ says: __________________

Write a mission statement for your site:

_________________ (site name) is a _____________________ (noun describing site) offering ________________________________ (type of service) to ___________________________________________ (adjective describing audience) ______________________________________ (noun describing audience) who ________________________________________ ("need" or "want") to _________________________________________ (need filled by site).

Unlike competing sites, which __________________________________________ (description of competition, highlighting faults), _______________________________________ (site name) will __________________________________________ (verb-based purpose, distinguishing site from its competition).

What are your goals for this site?

1. _______________________________________

2. _______________________________________

3. _______________________________________

4. _______________________________________

5. _______________________________________

Step 1 - Planning your site

Setting goals for a company site

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