Managing Your Website Project
How to make sure your next website project runs smoothly.
Have you ever worked on a project where everyone puts in their best effort but. in the end, due to mismanagement (or no management), everyone is disgruntled and a little weary of everyone else? Most people have. Building or revising a website doesn’t have to be a nightmare. It can be fun and hassle-free.
To start, good project management puts everyone on the same page, timeframe, and ensures that there is buy-in with reviews and approvals for each step of the process. And, ideally, the web design firm will manage the entire job even if other vendors are involved, such as illustrators, copywriters or photographers, while the client provides one point of contact to manage the project from their side.
Project Management Software
To help us manage our web projects, we’ve developed our own client area with a bulletin board and project tracker that keep all tasks, documents and communication in one secure location. But, even if you don’ t have your own custom project management software there are many online options out there, from inexpensive BaseCamp to WebEx Office, which has a calendar and announcement feature.
However, project management software alone won’t help you run a web project smoothly. I’ve found that due to the myriad of variables and players usually involved in a web project that the only way to ensure it runs smoothly is to have reviews and revisions built into the timeline as well as listing all client tasks.
Core Process
Over the past 12 years we’ve developed some fail-safe best practices that are outlined below and are part of our core process.
We have found that there need to be at least four client meetings: one to review the design, one to review site templates online before content or functionality is incorporated, one to review any advance programming functionality, and finally, one to review the entire completed site. And, on top of client meetings, there needs to be built-in online reviews with approvals that the client can check off before the job progresses from one phase to the next.
To help us manage the project budget as well as tasks, our estimated cost and time as well as our actual cost and time are part of our timeline. Our timeline is online and updated daily so all team members can easily see where their job stands 24/7.
Our core process includes these main steps:
1) Prepare a timeline and post for entire team to review. Remember to note holidays and key team member vacation days.
2) Outline content areas and assign writing/editing. The lack of content, more than anything else, can stall a web project.
3) Gather client branding materials and analyze the site and competition
4) Design comps
5) Meet and review design comps
6) Revisions
7) Review and finalize design comps – get approval
8) Program site templates
9) Meet and review site templates – get approval
10) Program any special functionality
11) Meet and review functionality
12) Revisions
13) Review – get approval
14) Test site functionality and user interface
15) Revisions – get final approval
16) Install on server
17) Meet for final review
Reviews and Revisions
We schedule a week for client reviews and a week for us to complete revisions. This does two things, first, it gives the client’s key players time to really review the designs, site, or functionality allowing clients to take responsibility for their website; and second it gives us enough time to make revisions.
Everyone is overbooked these days and it is not realistic to think that a company’s senior executives will be able to all review something on the same day. And, how many web projects have been completed before getting feedback from a senior executive who wants to change the site structure or some main element? Giving yourself a week for reviews and a week for revisions will save money and help to keep your project on schedule.
Develop Sites Transparently
One of the best things your web design firm can do is to develop your site as transparently as possible. Everything we develop goes on one of our development servers and is available for client review for the duration of the project via the client area. This means that design comps are posted online so clients can get a sense of how the final page will look in a browser window before the templates are programmed. Then, once the templates are programmed, those are made available for clients to click through and test the navigation functionality before content or any special functionality is added. And, of course, once any special functionality is added to the site that is posted online as well for client review and testing.
We’ve found that conducting usability testing informally throughout a redesign on an ongoing basis ensures proper feedback and allows us to make adjustments accordingly so that the job stays on budget and on time.
I hope these tips help you end your next website project with handshakes and smiles instead of finger pointing.
This article will be published in the July/August issue of Bizillion Magazine, which now has an digital version online.
Have you ever worked on a project where everyone puts in their best effort but. in the end, due to mismanagement (or no management), everyone is disgruntled and a little weary of everyone else? Most people have. Building or revising a website doesn’t have to be a nightmare. It can be fun and hassle-free.
To start, good project management puts everyone on the same page, timeframe, and ensures that there is buy-in with reviews and approvals for each step of the process. And, ideally, the web design firm will manage the entire job even if other vendors are involved, such as illustrators, copywriters or photographers, while the client provides one point of contact to manage the project from their side.
Project Management Software
To help us manage our web projects, we’ve developed our own client area with a bulletin board and project tracker that keep all tasks, documents and communication in one secure location. But, even if you don’ t have your own custom project management software there are many online options out there, from inexpensive BaseCamp to WebEx Office, which has a calendar and announcement feature.
However, project management software alone won’t help you run a web project smoothly. I’ve found that due to the myriad of variables and players usually involved in a web project that the only way to ensure it runs smoothly is to have reviews and revisions built into the timeline as well as listing all client tasks.
Core Process
Over the past 12 years we’ve developed some fail-safe best practices that are outlined below and are part of our core process.
We have found that there need to be at least four client meetings: one to review the design, one to review site templates online before content or functionality is incorporated, one to review any advance programming functionality, and finally, one to review the entire completed site. And, on top of client meetings, there needs to be built-in online reviews with approvals that the client can check off before the job progresses from one phase to the next.
To help us manage the project budget as well as tasks, our estimated cost and time as well as our actual cost and time are part of our timeline. Our timeline is online and updated daily so all team members can easily see where their job stands 24/7.
Our core process includes these main steps:
1) Prepare a timeline and post for entire team to review. Remember to note holidays and key team member vacation days.
2) Outline content areas and assign writing/editing. The lack of content, more than anything else, can stall a web project.
3) Gather client branding materials and analyze the site and competition
4) Design comps
5) Meet and review design comps
6) Revisions
7) Review and finalize design comps – get approval
8) Program site templates
9) Meet and review site templates – get approval
10) Program any special functionality
11) Meet and review functionality
12) Revisions
13) Review – get approval
14) Test site functionality and user interface
15) Revisions – get final approval
16) Install on server
17) Meet for final review
Reviews and Revisions
We schedule a week for client reviews and a week for us to complete revisions. This does two things, first, it gives the client’s key players time to really review the designs, site, or functionality allowing clients to take responsibility for their website; and second it gives us enough time to make revisions.
Everyone is overbooked these days and it is not realistic to think that a company’s senior executives will be able to all review something on the same day. And, how many web projects have been completed before getting feedback from a senior executive who wants to change the site structure or some main element? Giving yourself a week for reviews and a week for revisions will save money and help to keep your project on schedule.
Develop Sites Transparently
One of the best things your web design firm can do is to develop your site as transparently as possible. Everything we develop goes on one of our development servers and is available for client review for the duration of the project via the client area. This means that design comps are posted online so clients can get a sense of how the final page will look in a browser window before the templates are programmed. Then, once the templates are programmed, those are made available for clients to click through and test the navigation functionality before content or any special functionality is added. And, of course, once any special functionality is added to the site that is posted online as well for client review and testing.
We’ve found that conducting usability testing informally throughout a redesign on an ongoing basis ensures proper feedback and allows us to make adjustments accordingly so that the job stays on budget and on time.
I hope these tips help you end your next website project with handshakes and smiles instead of finger pointing.
This article will be published in the July/August issue of Bizillion Magazine, which now has an digital version online.
Labels: project management, website, website project management
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