Datasheet

Designer, Know Thy Goals
There’s an implied “All of Them” at the end of this section’s heading because any project carries with it a
small army of distinct (and, at times, competing) goals. The Rational Unified Process, a software project
management methodology (
http://ibm.com/software/awdtools/rup/), establishes the goals for a
project by defining the Critical Success Factors, often referred to as CSFs. These factors are something like
a laundry list that will help you determine when the project has completed. Some sample CSFs might
include:
❑ Build for-pay subscription newsletter service into site.
❑ Increase traffic by 40 percent over 6 months.
❑ Redesign home page to allow for rotation of 728 × 60 banner ads above the company logo.
There’s nothing especially surprising here, and it is, in fact, a rather modest list of business requirements
that are key to the success of the project.
Of course, things become complicated when we try to establish whose factors define a successful site. In
other words, who are the project’s “stakeholders”? Who can benefit from the project’s successful com-
pletion? Conversely, who would be affected by a less-than-successful Web site?
While a client might undertake a redesign to gain more space for advertising on a site (and therefore shore
up the company’s advertising revenue), this requirement could conflict with users that are just trying to
find a particular article buried beneath the banner ads. So, while your redesign might meet the established
business goals with flying colors, the site’s users might consider the project an unmitigated failure.
So, if business and user needs are in competition, exactly to whom are we supposed to listen? As much as
we’d like to, we can’t give you an easy answer to that question. Obviously, we can’t treat business and
user needs as an “either/or” scenario. Rather, it is our responsibility to perform a rather delicate balanc-
ing act between business and user goals, and ensure (somehow) that both are represented in the work
we ultimately produce.
Your Client’s Goals
If your project is to be of any value to the client, it must advance the client’s business objectives.
Frequently, our clients are outside of our own industry. Whether the client comes from the print indus-
try, the automotive industry, or has a small business looking to establish an online presence, they often
have little experience with the how of Web design. After all, that’s why they’re talking to us. We have
been tasked to take their particular business requirements and goals and realize them online. Of course,
the lack of industry understanding works both ways. We often have as little experience with our clients’
industries as they do with ours.
Therefore, it’s important that both sides of the equation get to know each other. When gathering require-
ments for your project, find out everything you can about the client, and the context in which the client
company operates. It’s not possible for us to know too much about the client’s industry, business, and
goals (both short- and long-term). No question is too basic. We must find out as much as we can about
the client’s industry, potential sales markets, marketing strategies, and competitors. This knowledge will
only help us as we plan and execute a project that will meet the client’s needs.
Of course, as we’re gathering this information, we should explain our own work as thoroughly and
clearly as possible. We should tell our client a story about what this Web project might look like, from
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The Planning and Development of Your Site
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