Why do you want a website? Because everyone else has one? That's a really terrible reason. Websites are really tools to accomplish a goal. Too many companies set out to build a website without fully thinking this through.

Let me give you an example.

LevelTen’s team recently had a brand discussion over lunch regarding our website. Questions like - does out website positively promote our brand? What is our message? Do we communicate to potential customers in a way that is easily understandable? I can’t say I was very surprised when the overwhelming consensus was that it needed significant improvement.

What is the purpose of website planning?

That's not meant to be a rhetorical question. Think about it. Write down your answers.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
This is a question I ask at a lot of conferences. Most audiences I present to are developers. The typical answers are:

• So we know what the client wants
• To document requirements
• To assess risk
• To estimate the project budget

So there I was. Standing in front of a room of 150 or so small business owners stumped by a single question. Probably the most astute question a small business owner could ask about the web.

"How can I get a results oriented website on a tight budget?"

I had just spent the last two hours doing something I preach to others not to do: identifying a problem without giving a solution. Worse than that, I was stumped to think of one.

Jim Highsmith wrote an insightful blog post about how waterfall project management is about "plan and do" whereas agile is about "envision and explore." This weekend I was working on a video statistics system for Tutr.tv. It ended up being another one of those ah-ha moments of why agile processes are so brilliantly effective and how "envision and explore" produces better results faster than the old "plan and do."

Henry Ford had a vision based on customer demand. In 1908 the Model T was introduced to the world and produced in a small, rented factory on Mack Avenue in Detroit, Michigan. Early models were produced at a rate of only a few a day by groups of two or three men working on each car. By 1913, Ford Motor Company had not only increased its man power, but also increased its efficiency by creating a moving assembly line which boosted annual production to 202,667 that year. Henry Ford’s vision and the Model T’s demand had developed the basic techniques of mass production.

It’s no secret that website development has changed over the past decade. As new technologies arise and competition increases, the ability to significantly improve user interaction, site performance and content management have become paramount to many corporate websites. With these advancements in technology, one might think the process of implementing technologies has also improved, but as you will see, many interactive agencies continue to underestimate the levels of complexity and risk of projects, ultimately increasing the risk of failure.

The Dallas Mavericks overcame an off-shooting night by Dirk Nowitzki to defeat the Miami Heat 105-95 and capture their first Championship. As the Dallas Mavericks demonstrated throughout the NBA Playoffs and again Sunday night, it takes a team effort as well as key contributions from each member of the team to be successful.

It’s no real secret that the web is all about the audience, yet I’m always surprised when analyzing websites how few websites seem to be designed for their intended audience. I’ve seen optometry websites with fonts so small I could barely read the content – I have 20/15 vision. I’ve implemented usability tests on sites where not one audience member could complete seemingly simple tasks. Do you think these sites were built with their audience in mind?

One of the things that always gets my gander up when I get comps and mockups back from designers is when there are buttons in places that links should be. For whatever reason many designers/UI people really like buttons and put them all over the place. There are pretty defined guidelines for when to use buttons and when to use links and these are often not followed.