Overview

We have developed this tool to help small and medium sized businesses manage the process of designing a web presence. It will help you:

• Find and choose the right supplier, based on your business needs
• Understand and manage the web design process
• Develop a design brief
• Prepare your business for the changes a website brings

The site has 6 sections, which you can download as a word document if you prefer.

In the resources section you can download a range of templates to help you with particular stages. There is also a diagram which shows the different stages we would expect you to go through, and gives you an overview of the process.

We have used the terms which are used by suppliers. You will notice on the first time such a word appears a question mark will appear next to it. If you click on this, a definition will appear to give you more detail.

Introduction to the tool

Not so long ago, businesses were rushing at top speed to get themselves online. We have seen many of the casualties – businesses founded on poor business models, and equally poor design, that failed to deliver a return on investment.

As your customers become more familiar with the internet, badly designed websites run the risk of appearing not unlike a rude or unhelpful call centre worker, a badly written and laid out form, or a thoughtlessly arranged shop. This guide will help you avoid some of the pitfalls by offering you a clear and informed guide to the use of design in developing a website.

We will define the main stages and identify what you should be aware of at each one. We will also explain common expectations from the designers' perspective and what you will need to do to be aware and prepared.

We have assumed that you have come to this site after identifying a business goal and carrying out market research and project planning, and that you are ready to find suppliers to work with and to begin developing the project. If you are not at this stage you should arrange to get some strategic and practical advice from a Business Links Adviser, who you can contact via www.businesslink.org, or from some other source.

Before proceeding you should be clear about:

1. Your business goals
2. Your particular objectives for this project (whether you are solving business problems or enabling business opportunities)
3. Your audience
4. Their objectives
5. The existing constraints (expenditure, resources, time)

Who is this guide for?

This guide is for small and medium sized companies (and other small organisations) who are looking to develop new or existing websites.

What does it aim to do?

This tool contains the following:

• A description of the web design process, and the stages involved
• A series of smaller tools to help you set up ways of working, to audit what you have, and to choose suppliers.
• A glossary of web design terms
• A set of online resources to help you with your project

The tool is intended to help you:

• Recognise the type of design company you need for the business requirements you have identified
• Understand the whole web design process
• Find designers and design companies to work with, and assess the calibre of those people or organisations and their suitability for working with them on your particular project. (We don't address the issues around hiring people to work on web design and development in-house, though much of what we discuss will still be relevant in this situation.)
• Demonstrate how important it is to have an understanding of your customers' needs, and how to work with them to develop products and services which they will want and which will ultimately provide real business value to you and your organisation
• Write a design brief, and hone it throughout the development process
• Understand what good web design and its value to business, and what constitutes a good design process
• Manage the design development process
• Evaluate the outcome of the project, so you can tell if it has been a success, and plan the next steps
• Incorporate these processes into your organisational culture
• Understand the terminology used in a web design project

We have tried to explain how to maximise the effectiveness of the design you have commissioned, and set out clear markers for judging the success of the project.

This guide does not address general approaches to running a business, organising your staff, negotiating agreements, and working with suppliers. We are assuming you already managing those elements effectively.

Using the diagram to manage the design process

The process we have shown follows a sequence of stages – some of them may take a few attempts – known as iterations – to get to the right solution. This is a very normal feature of the way a designer works, but may not be familiar to you. The number of stages they go through depends upon the amount of time and money available.

We also refer to working in teams throughout the process, which is undoubtedly difficult if you are a very small company, but it is an established principle that all good projects need to involve all of the project stakeholders (including partners and suppliers) as well as customers to deliver the final outcome. The process will demand a lot of time and energy, but the results will be the better for it.

Terminology used

The Internet industry has produced a host of new terms and a fair amount of jargon. Throughout this project we have used terms that are in common use in the industry to ensure you can communicate with your suppliers, and to help in this process we have included a glossary for your information.

About the online version of ‘Web Design for Business’

This project is a result of research and interviews with small businesses, small business advisers and web designers. It aims to guide you through the process of creating a web project and can be used for small and large scale projects.

This may appear a complex process, but each of the stages are invaluable to producing a design solution that is successful for your business.

We have had many contributions from many sources, and have developed this guide in the light of their thoughts and ideas. There are of course no absolute rules, but we hope that the spirit of the approach we have taken, and examples of the experiences others have had, will assist you in making your own decisions.