Question

Topic: Website Critique

Need Help With Website Planning Methodology

Posted by kenneth.sun on 11/28/2008 at 10:23 PM ET 250 Points
Hi All. I am the marketing manager for a dairy company in New Zealand that exports products to China. I am currently in the planning stage for a new website targeting the Chinese market. Our website will have content and features similar to www.enfamil.com

Prior to contacting web design companies, I would like to write a comprehensive website structure/requirements document that outlines exactly what I want in the website.

It would be great if someone can give me some tips as to how I should go about writing such a document, i.e. for a website such as www.enfamil.com. I would appreciate it if someone can give me a sample website planning document for reference. Thanks you for your help.

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RESPONSES

  • Posted by kenneth.sun on 11/29/2008 at 12:23 AM Author
    Hi Kathleen, thanks for the prompt reply and the good tips. Our website will be similar to that of Enfamil in the sense that emphasis will be placed on content over actual shopping cart.

    Given the complexity of the website, how do I begin writing an website planning document? What visualisation tool (e.g. UML, wireframe) should I use? If possible, an actual example would be fantastic.

    The objective of this document is to act as a comprehensive "blueprint" to give to web designers so they can give me an accurate quotation and deliver exactly what I want. Because of the amount of information and requirements involved, I am looking for a methodology to organise and visualise the requirements so that it is easy for web designers to understand. I hope my question is not too abstract.
  • Posted by Susan Oakes on 11/29/2008 at 12:42 AM Accepted
    Search Engine Guide has good information about website requirements - https://www.searchengineguide.com/stoney-degeyter/the-best-damn-web-marketi...
  • Posted on 11/29/2008 at 7:39 AM Accepted
    hi,

    the better you know what you want the better the briefing is for the agency producing the website. and you will get what you want and expectation is managed well while the whole project because you always know what you get and the agency knows what they have to focus on.

    i am managing partner in an online marketing agency and i know about the value of a customer expressing what he/she wants.

    basically you need the following documents to get a clear picture and to write a good briefing:
    1. write down every navigation point of efamil and collect the contents they publish on the pages (just titles) > try to draw a structural overview (sitemap) from which page is the user (you) coming and where can he/she go and what is the content they get on the single page

    2. draw your own sitemap for your business

    3. draw a wireframe of all the contents you want on every single page

    4. make a word doc with a table containing the following sections (page, content/text, picture). if multilingual you need more columns for the text in the other languages > in this doc you collect all the contents you need. you can share it with colleagues and in the end you can send it to translators to put the translation in the language columns

    5. the briefing: write a strategic word doc to express your companys interest, targets, focus and target group etc.

    easiest sitemap and wireframing tool:
    https://www.omnigroup.com/applications/omnigraffle/

    if you want an example of sitemap, wireframe and word doc contact me over my contact form at [URL deleted by staff]

    kind regards

    floto
  • Posted by Jay Hamilton-Roth on 11/29/2008 at 9:22 AM Accepted
    Here's an article that might help: https://graphicdesign.about.com/od/websitedesign/ss/website.htm
  • Posted by Kyle on 11/29/2008 at 2:50 PM Accepted
    I agree with Kathleen. 99% of people don't ever get their objectives right to start with. What happens then is design gets involved, then it gets clouded by functionality and then next minute the site is live. 6 months later, you're wondering why you're not hitting your KPI's!

    Kathleen hit it on the head, you need to focus on what you need to accomplish and then present that to a number of companies that have demonstrated experience in delivering similar objectives for other companies.

    I'm not necessarily meaning they have to have worked for another company in your industry. You have goals right? Typically every commercial website has an objective to achieve,
    - Sales
    - Leads
    - Signups,
    - Results?

    If you are clear about your objectives and can work with a company that can provide an ongoing partnership moving forward then you will be fine. Every company has the best intentions to design and develop a website on target and on time. However there are always assumptions, headlines, copy, use of graphics etc. It is through the use of A/B split testing or Multivariate testing that allows your website to get better (Conversion optimisation) and better as more and more visitors comes to it.

    Find a company that does both well and have clear objectives and you'll be fine. Contact me to discuss further if you like.



  • Posted by kenneth.sun on 11/30/2008 at 3:36 AM Author
    Thank you everyone for taking the time to answer my question. I think I have a good starting point now.

    Hi Floto, it would be great if you can send me an example of the sitemap, wireframe and word doc (my email is in my profile page). Your contact URL has been deleted by the moderator. Thanks in advance.
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