Website Design Definition and Why It Is Important
Nowadays, no matter what type of business you’re running, chances are you will need a website in order to promote your product or your service. And being able to provide a great user experience can greatly determine the relationship your customers are going to have with your brand.
Website design can be defined as the process of creating new websites, and it entails many different aspects such as layout and appearance, graphic design, and content production. When it comes to creating a new website or starting a website redesign project, it can sometimes feel like getting the work done as quickly as possible is the right way to go.
But in reality, focusing on work without an action plan can truly be the difference between a successful and a chaotic result. Why? Because website design projects usually involve multidisciplinary teams with different types of skills coming together at different stages and times, and when multiple people are involved, it can only mean one thing: you will be in need of a collaborative space, where everyone can have a clear understanding of work, responsibilities, and status of progress.
The Components of a Website Design Project Plan
We’ve made it clear why it’s so important for teams to create a well-thought-out website design plan, but we haven’t exactly mentioned how to do it or what it should cover. So, if you’re in need of a guide, let’s dive into the essential steps that go into creating and mapping out a structured website design project plan.
Project definition. Research is a big part of this first step. Project definition is paramount to the success of your design project because it will lay a solid groundwork for your whole plan. At this stage, you need to define the purpose behind the idea of creating or redesigning your website. Are you looking to improve user experience? Are you looking to drive sales? Define goals and make sure everyone involved is on the same page.
Budget. Once the concept has been laid down, it’s time to set a budget. Creating a plan for your website design project will help you determine an estimate of your costs and your overall investment. It will also help you distribute and make wise decisions regarding your resources.
Team and roles. We’ve established website design requires team effort. So before you start laying down work, take the time to assign clear responsibilities for your key team members and make sure everyone understands the role they will be playing.
Documentation and requirements. Requirements can come in all shapes and sizes. It’s important to understand what is expected of your website design, and clients and stakeholders play an instrumental role in this stage. So work closely with them and make sure you have a clear list of functionalities and features that need to be included. This process will save you time later down the road and it will prevent your team from eventually having to complete multiple revisions. Documentation also includes information from your customers, so make sure you have a clear definition of your ideal buyer persona in order to accomplish an exceptional journey for them.
Content. Your content and your website appearance should go hand-to-hand. You need to be able to communicate the brand’s voice and its vision, as well as to make it easy for your audience to identify what they’re looking for right away. So work closely with clients and stakeholders to gain insights into branding, voice, and style.
Design. Work together with your team and create a concept that includes visual contents, this will help you to communicate your vision. Then, you can start working on a wireframe, which will serve as a guide for how the website will be structured, along with how it will be structured for the users. Once the prototype has been approved, it’s time to make code happen.
Creating a Timeline for Your Website Design Project Plan
Taking the time to create and to build a detailed project plan provides you with a structure that can help you work in a more efficient, and result-driven way. It will give you a chance to set your own pace and to decide which steps to complete first, which will ultimately keep you on track with your overall objectives.
Website design requires planning, analyzing, and documenting a handful of different information. Also, with multiple team members involved, it can quickly become chaotic and difficult to keep everyone on the same page. Luckily, this is where project management software such as Instagantt can turn out to be extremely useful.
With gantt charts, you’ll be working with the kind of tool that is required when managing different stages of a project along with different skill sets. Most importantly, you will be able to keep track of all the different aspects that come into designing exceptional website experiences; planning and conceptualizing, overseeing timelines and progress, content, budget, schedules, and deadlines.
Take a Look at Our Free Website Design Project Gantt Chart Template
