What to Expect

An overview of my typical redesign process.

During 14 years of building sites large and small, I’ve developed a fairly standardized process to use with clients. I have a substantial component of project management in the work I do at MIT, and all my clients benefit from that.

Initial Consultation
The initial consultation is about information gathering (I’ll come to you if geography permits — I live north of Boston, Mass; otherwise we can chat by phone). We talk about your current site, if there is one — what you like about it, what you don’t like about it — and what kinds of things have changed in your business since the last redesign. I get a sense of the direction you’d like to go, and ask my follow-up questions based on that.

Here are some things I help you think through in that first meeting or in subsequent conversations. Don’t worry if you don’t know the answers! I’m here to help.

• How up-to-date is the information on your current site?
• What has changed with your small business or your goals since the site was designed?
• What do you like about your current site?
• What frustrates you about it?
• What are your competitors doing that you wish your site could do too?
• Can your clients or potential clients find the information they need on your site?
• Do you find yourself answering the same questions from clients time and again, questions that aren’t answered on your site but could be?
• Does your site showcase your products, services or prior projects adequately?
• Does everyone at your organization use domain e-mail (like john@mycompany.com), and know how to log into their domain e-mail rather than answering mail from john@yahoo.com?
• Do you have a group e-mail address like allstaff@mycompany.com that you use internally to reach everyone at once?
• Do your clients have a general address to reach you (info@mycompany.com) and does that address have an auto-responder to let clients know you got their message and will get back to them?
• Do you have a user-friendly contact form that makes it easy for potential clients to get in touch, and that makes it easy to route incoming e-mail to the right person within your organization?
• Do you know where your domain is registered, who the contact is, and when it expires?
• Do you know the logins for your web host’s control panel and FTP settings?
• Do you have documentation on how to update your site, if something happens to your web developer?
• How frequently does the content on your site change?
• Is the content on your site written specifically for the web? (Web users scan more than they read!)
• Is your navigation schema and structure intuitive to your visitors?
• Are there resources within your organization to make site changes, or would you rather the developer handle all updates?
• Would you like to have secure, private access for existing clients to log in and see invoices or photos of work in progress?
• Are you interested in site marketing and SEO (search engine optimization)?

Design Considerations
We also talk about sites you’ve seen that you liked, and what you liked about them. It’s a big leg up to know that you can’t stand boxy, modern looking sites for example. Or that you really love the color green and sites that have rounded corners. It’s OK if you don’t know what you like — after looking at a few examples, we’ll find a pattern in what appeals to you, and I’ll use that to build from there.

Navigation
After the initial consultation, which may take only one meeting or several, we focus on the navigation. This is sometimes left until later in the process in web design projects, but it’s a key component, and it’s important to nail it down sooner rather than later. The trouble many folks have is that a web site navigation forces you to clarify things that are often rather fuzzy in real life. I call it the “crucible” — deciding what things to list most prominently, and which to demote to sub-categories, forces you to crystallize what your true priorities are. It’s not always an easy process, but I’m there to guide you through it.

Design Directions
Armed with your goals, your likes and dislikes, and a provisional navigation, I then start thinking of design directions. (Large or complex sites may require a wireframe, sort of a skeleton site, first, but this isn’t always necessary.) I typically develop three quick design directions (actual designs, but done in rough draft form, without polish).

I can build a unique, from-scratch design, or customize your site based on free CSS templates that are widely available online. Here’s an example of the design directions I built for a recent project.

For a law firm in Boston, I created three design directions, below. They’re not complete sites, just a provisional homepages — enough to give you an idea of where they’re headed.

The client in this case very much liked Design Direction 1, so we went with it. Here’s what the finished product looks like:

Development
After you’re settled on a design and provisional navigation, I start to build. The pages are empty at first — we don’t move the content in until the design and navigation have been finalized. Looking at mockups and design directions is different than actually clicking through a site. It’s important for me to give clients the opportunity to click through — it just feels different to actually use a site vs. thinking about what it will look like. So that helps us settle any edits on the design and navigation.

Then I add content, either transferring it in from the existing site or using new content you provide. Unlike many web developers, I have an editorial background, so I can help write and edit content. But you are the ultimate expert on your own business and industry, so be prepared to do some homework at this stage.

When placing the content, I also polish the design, check it for cross-browser compatibility again, and add or finalize special features like Google maps and contact forms. I also add meta tags and perform some other Search Engine Optimization (SEO) tasks that I include at no charge in every project. Additional SEO tasks are optional — I’m happy to help you think through the value of SEO for your organization and decide how much you want to do in that area.

Launch
Now we’re ready for the final review and signoff. Then we launch, and your new site is live. Congratulations!

Maintenance
Post-launch, I provide you with written documentation that includes all logins, passwords, and instructions for special features — everything you need to know for the care and feeding of your web site. I provide training for those interested in updating their own web site content. If you don’t ever intend to update the site yourself, that’s fine — I’m always available for maintenance.

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Learn more: Portfolio | What Sets Me Apart

If you’d like to talk about a new web site or a redesign of your current site, reach me at laurie@lauriebryce.com or 978-352-7161.