Preflight: An essential key to effective web design (Part:1)
Welcome back to our next informative guide in the Web Design Essentials discussion. Preflight is an important stage in the process of creating a successful website and using this important concept will keep your project focused and on track. This the first part of the article on Preflight, where the second part can be found here.
What is Preflight?
Preflight, in simple terms, is everything that is done to prepare yourself and/or your team for a website project, prior to the commencement of the development and design phases. It always includes all logical steps towards fulfilling the project’s goals.
The term originates from the aviation industry. Pre-flight checklists, used by pilots, involve the examination of the aircraft to ensure that it will function correctly without mishap. A similar term is used in the printing industry to describe the process of confirming the presence and validity of all files, documents and supporting data, correctly formatted and of the desired type before printing begins. Adapted from: Wikipedia, Pre-flight (printing) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preflight
The following steps are recommended:
1- Get to know your client:
Ask your client to provide an overview of his business, services, products, etc. The easiest and most comprehensive way to do this is through a web design questionnaire. The internet is full of resources and samples of those questionnaires. My suggestion is to browse through them and then create your version that should be short, direct, and easy.
Have a look at the article written by Jacob Gube of “Six Revisions” How to Create an Effective Web Design Questionnaire.
Also, Try your trusty Google search. Especially this link:
http://www.google.com/search?q=web+design+service+questionnaire
These offer good, useable guides and examples of web questionnaires. I personally recommend ClearLeft’s document: Client Ideas Sheet
When the client has answered these simple questions, you will have a useful understanding of his business and his line of work.
2- Create a Client Profile:
Using the questionnaire as a guide, create a Client Profile by “reading between the lines”. Get to know about the history (if any) of the business. Become familiar with their products and services; study their corporate identity (if any), their logo, their typeface, their colors…etc. Finally convert what you have read into a mental image, ensuring that a recognizable “feel” will permeate your design and make it recognizable to the browsing public
3- “Google” your client’s competitors:
Yes, it is very important to research the competitors websites. Try to analyze their pros and cons and use that information in to enhance your client’s website
That’s it for the first part. Part 2 can be found here.
