Why you need a plan, to plan a website

The planning stage of a digital project is the most important, right? Well, that’s what we tell everybody. This is definitely true, but what is the best way to plan a website?

As we all know the digital world is evolving at a ridiculous rate, so trying to stay ahead of the game when developing a digital product is a challenge to say the least. The expectations of people who consume digital media and use digital platforms is now so high, that even getting the small details wrong can end badly, let alone a complex piece of functionality.

Being the man with a plan (or woman) is now more crucial than ever. But the question is, what’s the optimum approach? There are multiple dependencies around the route you should and can take when planning a website, including budget, timings, the knowledge and experience of the client and obviously the level of the job in hand.

At Clevercherry, we are increasingly finding that we need to be completely fluid in our approach to digital projects, taking into account all of these factors before deciding the best way to tackle them.

For a straightforward web project, a detailed planning session with the client can often suffice, before going straight to design. For more complex projects, we have taken multiple approaches, from detailed planning sessions combined with hand drawn wireframes, through to fully functioning built and designed prototypes that we test with a relevant user group. All are ‘planned’ to the level of detail required, but with a different approach each time.

It makes sense to have a digital methodology to refer to, but it isn’t a linear process and should only be used as a guide. Not being afraid to challenge approaches and adapting them as you move through a project is crucial to maximising efficiencies. With the front-end build of websites increasing in complexity due to responsive and adaptive techniques, getting your plan right at the start is more important than ever.

Is software produced wireframes overkill in some scenarios? Previously I’ve hung my hat on the wireframe approach – structuring a website without subjectivity of design. Detailed wireframing can make the planning process unnecessarily long. Sketches, hand-drawn wireframes and scamps can often achieve the same as a digital wireframe, without the need to build something within a software package.

If you get client buy-in, and involve them in planning meetings, there are huge efficiencies to be had here and is something we are demonstrating works with our own clients. I’m not suggesting software produced wireframes shouldn’t be used in the right situation; they can often be pivotal to developing a robust functional specification for more complex projects.

Whatever approach you take, having a super-talented, well-balanced delivery team is essential. Project managers with the right mentality (managing expectations and client understanding), developers who are willing to push the boundaries of available techniques/technologies and interactive designers that can consider UX and design as one. I’m fortunate to have that team at Clevercherry, which means we work together to a better solution (sorry, I had managed avoid using the word 'solution' until now!).

So the key here is, keep an open mind to your planning approach and remain flexible throughout delivery and you’ll give yourself a much better chance of producing innovative digital products that work for your clients and most importantly, their customers.

I love it when the plan comes together.