Resources
Tools
This section contains the resources to assist you with some of the stages involved in the process of designing a website. There are links to each of these throughout the tool at the relevant stages.
It features some templates to enable you to make:
RFP template
This template takes you through the process of putting together a request for proposals to send to designers when you have identified who you would like to consider your project.
Brief template
This template helps you build a brief that gives the right level of detail to your chosen designer.
Assessing designers
This is a checklist template to allow you to compare competing suppliers against some good practice principles and to include your own requirements.
Communication strategies
This document takes you through the issues concerning communication which
always forms the key to any project success Web process diagram This diagram
gives you a stage-by-stage definition of the process we expect you to
go through, as well as an overview to the whole process. As no projects
are the same, this process will be slightly different for each business,
and these are the main stages. DesignCouncilProcess.pdf
(This diagram is work in progress and will be updated shortly.)
References
Useful business magazines
Internet Business (UK)
Under the moniker ‘Making Sense of Technology and Ideas’ Internet Business covers Web design and development from a business perspective. Recent stories include ‘The UK’s top 30 web designers’ and a piece on search engine-related design issues. It is published by Haymarket, who also publish Management Today, Revolution and Marketing.
E-First (UK)
A practically-focused magazine for e-business.
e.Business (UK)
e.Business champions ‘e-strategies for real business’ and covers consulting firms but doesn’t focus on Web design and development. Recent stories include ‘User Friendly: Poor usability can damage your brand’ and ‘Design Matters: Stretching brands across platforms”. It is published by Crimson Publishing.
Useful design- and development-orientated magazines
Design Week
Most useful for its coverage of the clients that agencies are working for, though it focused on larger design companies who work for large companies and PLCs. Its annual Digital Media Top 100 is useful for researching mid- to large-Web design companies. It recently launched an online directory newdesignpartners.com.
Create Online
Has useful Web site critiques in each issue, and has addressed the issue of usability extensively, as well as focusing on client relationships in a recent issues. Can be annoyingly designer-y, so read selectively. Published by Future Publishing, who until recently published Business 2.0 in the UK. No editorial is published online, but Create Online is available at larger book and magazine retailers.
http://www.createonline.co.uk/
Useful books
‘The E-Commerce Book’ Steffano Korper and Juanita Ellis (Academic Press) http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ISBN=0124211615
Discusses Web site customers from a business perspective, emphasising the value of user-focused design and ease of use, and the desirability of delivering “positive, unique, and memorable experience” to your online customers.
‘Designing Web Usability’ Jakob Nielsen (New Riders) http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ISBN=156205810X
A very accessible overview of the issues of Web usability by the best known and one of the smartest, exponents. This is as much a reference book as straight-through read. It is aimed at practitioners but clients will find it valuable to dip into, particularly for the illustrated examples.
‘Web Pages That Suck : Learn Good Design by Looking at Bad Design’ Vincent Flanders, Michael Willis (Sybex)
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=078212187X and http://www.webpagesthatsuck.com/
“Learn good design by looking at bad design” is the coverline, which neatly sums up the principle that to work in a particular medium or channel you need to know how everyone else works, the good and the bad.
‘Customers.com’ Patricia B Seybold (Random House Business Books, 1998)
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ISBN=0712680713
This is a more general business book focusing on customer experience, but it does cover IT and the Internet, and how to attract customers, increase sales and improve profits. The majority of the book is case studies, including Amazon.com, Dell Computer, Dow Jones and Cisco Systems.
Web sites
Inc. (US)
In.c provides “small business resources” and has extensive coverage of information technology and the Internet.. It is primarily a print publication but has an extensive archive Web site has three guides Web Site Starter Kit, Creating a Great Web Site on the Cheap, and Building a Better Web Site that address finding a designer, designing for users, effective navigation, and usability testing.
A List Apart (US)
A well considered site that publishes thoughtful pieces. Mainly oriented towards designers but has published a number of articles (‘Nipping Client Silliness in the Bud’, ‘Cheaper over better’, and ‘The Client Did It: a world wide web whodunnit’) addressing the designer-client relationship. You may get an idea how your design supplier sees you!
Government Design Toolkit
http://www.design-council.org.uk/govtool/
Addresses a general organisational approach to design, making it relevant to design for the Web. Includes the ‘Web/gap analysis tool’ (http://www.design-council.org.uk/govtool/tools/dev_webgap.html) which can help you with competitor analysis and understanding if your initiative might find a useful audience.
AlertBox (US)
Written by pervasive Web usability Jakob Nielsen AlertBox is a Web site focused around Nielsen’s bi-weekly email commentaries. These focus on business and technology as much as design and are proactive and worth reading. For an introduction see ‘First Rule of Usability? Don't Listen to Users’ (August 5, 2001).
http://www.useit.com/alertbox/
Finding a supplier
Web- and print-based directories
newdesignpartners.com
A sister to Design Week magazine newdesignpartners.com is the best UK-focused online directory. It has over 100 listings for designers working in ‘Web/Multimedia’. Listings include a short description of the company, areas of business, client list and recent projects, a listing of stories about the company that have appeared in Design Week, and contact name and number.
http://www.newdesignpartners.com/
The Firm List
A global listing, with extensive UK section, listing 200 companies in London alone. Company profiles are very detailed and include company size, though they focus too much on technical skills and don’t communicate a sense of the company’s approach. Press releases are available a limited number of companies, adding a useful dimension to the profile.
Netimperative.com
Netimperative.com is one of the better online publications covering the Internet-related business. The site’s Resources section has a listing of over 30 of the larger ‘Creative Agencies’ in the UK.. Information on each agency is slightly less extensive than in newdesignpartners.com, and is not as well presented.
http://www.netimperative.com/resourcecentre/companysearch.asp?cat=8
Yell.com
Has a category for ‘INTERNET WEB DESIGN’ and allows searches by town. Lists around 60 companies for the whole of the UK, with basic information about their areas of specialisation for those with a paid listing.
Design Business Association (DBA)
The UK-based DBA is the “world's largest trade association of design businesses”. Its designSelect on-line service (see ‘Choosing a Consultancy’ menu entry) allows for searching by town/region, company size, and discipline – though the search interface is poor. It lists almost 200 companies in the UK under ‘Web Design’. Information about the companies is extensive, and includes a contact name and details. A portfolio image is available along with a description of the company, clients and philosophy.
Design Directory
Connected to the British Design Initiative the Design Directory lists almost 400 companies working in Multimedia/New Media graphics in London. Basic information is limited to a good one paragraph introduction for most companies, and a small proportion have a link to a portfolio of their work or to their Web home page. Companies can only be contacted via a Web-based email form, making direct contact more difficult than with the other listings.
http://www.design-directory.net/
Tender broking services
Broking services allow clients to post a Request for Proposals which suppliers registered with the same service can review and respond to.
Newmediary
US-based but partners with The Economist in the UK, and has extensive UK listings.
Mondus
Aimed at SMEs and also operating in Germany, France and Italy, Mondus considers itself to be a “community of screened and trusted buyers and suppliers”. It includes categories for Website Design and Usability testing.
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