First Analyse the Client’s Web Problem
This morning I was elated to see a little sanity on the web with a post from Robert Nyman about looking at the client’s needs before moving to the client’s solution. I’m elated because this is a philosophy I’ve been hammering over and over on this blog and my previous one for at least the last three years. Its only when we understand the client’s web problem can we really try to achieve a web solution for their situation. Every client is different and simply offering everyone a generic solution - for example, a content management system - isn’t going to be an across the board effective solution for every client.
At the heart of any client’s need for a web presence should (in fact I’d suggest must) be a solid business reason. What do they want to achieve - higher sales volume? Greater customer satisfaction? An increase in marketing exposure? An online e-commerce facility? This all starts by looking seriously at the business goals and objectives of the client. A lot of designers think this is way too boring or somehow beneath them but without it they are really flying blind.
Also critical to the need for a correct web solution is the question of how it will be measured as a success or a failure? This comes back to the business reason for the website’s existence. The client should get a return on investment for the website - otherwise why is it being built? So measurables and objectives need to be discussed with the client. Will increased sales over 4 months by 20% be a success and an increase in sales by only 5% be considered a failure to recoup the return on investment? Or it could be that the website delivers critical forms to their customers which could reduce the burden on administration staff from handing them out manually and fielding phone enquiries. The question is at what point does the website become a viable business entity.
I’m not a great fan of web development for the sake of chewing through client projects. Our job is to educate, consult and collaborate to achieve the best outcomes for the client. Don’t be tempted to fit clients to your pre-ordained solution. Everyone is different. Every job will have a unique set of needs and parameters which have to be understood. And, critically, every client’s success criteria will be unique to its interests. Business 101.
That all being said one of the things I enjoy about web design is the diversity of what we have to deal with - beyond coding you have design, marketing, business, information architecture, multimedia production, graphic arts, copywriting, search engine optimisation, and the list goes further. How boring it would be to just believe its all about HTML, CSS, JavaScript, PHP and UNIX Servers.
