Web Design: A Primer

Last Saturday evening I received an e-mail from a friend:

I wonder if you have already developed, from lots and lots of years of cohorts asking you stuff like this, a primer  à la So You’re Thinking of Freelance Web Design for Weensy Could Be Micromanager Clients! laying around.

As it just so happens… no. Mostly, my friends/cohorts ask questions about contract language or how much should they charge for their services. Project management is one of the many hats a freelance designer must wear whilst working but, to date, no one ever asked me how to manage a project. I had to think about my friend’s request: I have an approach to project management but nothing officially captured in a formal process. So I sat at my desk and typed a response to my friend—and a mutual friend who works in print for her advice.

I have worked on projects of every shape and size with people from every conceivable background. In every project, one conclusion has always been present: things can and will go wrong. Project management helps people plan for the best. But first, you have to plan for the worst.

Risk Management

Project schedules are run off-course due to any number of issues:

• client feedback isn’t “on-time”
• personal emergencies (e.g., The Rapture)
• computer crash / lost data

Within your means of what is possible, have an action plan established for when the project takes a sharp turn. The action plan will help you keep the project on-track.

Example: in order to launch the site in 3 months’ time, you need the client to provide feedback within 48 hours of the first design concept. The client goes quiet. Nary a peep. You call the client and request a return call with the necessary feedback, or you bring the project to a grinding halt and focus priorities on other projects.

Client Management

The client will have a pie-in-the-sky vision of the website, but you live in a place called reality and you know what’s doable within the time and money allotted the project. Have a conversation with the client that sets a level of expectation between heaven and earth: that’s your targeted expectation from the client’s perspective, and anything above that baseline will guarantee your name to be writ in the heavens.

Expectation Management

Ask for website stats on users: do most of the site users browse content in IE6? If you have to design for that browser, it’s better to know at the start of the project so you can adjust the design & development accordingly. The site has to work for the lowest common denominator, and if that happens to be an audience of 40% IE6 browsers, make it work.

Asset Management

Information Architecture allows your client to recognize what, if any, content needs to be created for the site. Your client will have homework at this point, so it’s a good idea to agree on what content the client will need to provide that you can drop into place during development.

Before you go into design, account for all the navigation items, buttons and doo-dads you’ll need to place on every page. The site design won’t necessarily match these sketches, you’re merely accounting for everything that needs to appear on the site.

• Sketch out the site flow on pencil & paper. Clients are more apt to change site structure and layout with a pencil & paper because it’s not permanent. Not that websites are permanent, but physically changing a layout at this point is physically comforting to a client.
• What should users accomplish on the site? How many steps are required to make this happen? Visually illustrate the and process and its steps with accompanying parent/child web pages.
• Where do users go after completing a process? Work it out in paper.

You’ll know what you have to account for in design & development, and your client won’t ask later down the road “what about…”

Time Management

Your design concepts will undergo iterations and changes based on the client’s thoughts and feelings. With that said:

• Put a cap on the number of iterations you create, otherwise you’ll never finish the project because you’re making five million unimportant changes.
• Use the website http://lipsum.com to generate lorem ipsum text for design concepts. You want the client to focus on the design, not the content.
• Get design sign-off in writing, such as “I am happy with this design and we can move into development”.

You’ll spend most of your project time developing the site.
30% IA
30% Design
40% Development

Throughout the project, you’ll need to keep PM a constant presence.

But wait, there’s more!

Our friend who works in print had these additional points:

Set the client’s expectations, notify them up front what they can get for what they are paying for. This includes any and all revisions to design/layout/architecture. How many rounds of back and forth prior to whatever deadline will you allow before you start charging rush or overtime fees? This stuff is need to know, and will manage expectations. Of course, they will push you to see if you will bend, but whatevs.

Work all fees out in pre-production so there are no surprises.

That said, keep a very, very precise paper trail, in terms of sign-offs. I cannot stress this enough. You need your shit zipped up so tight there’s no air. This is the only grounds you have to be generous with the client (as in, “normally at this point I would charge you because we missed our agreed upon deadline due to the fact that your mother didn’t sign off on this but since this is the first time we can negotiate”). You’ll come off looking good and if they don’t pay you for something you have back-up and evidence.

If they are flaky and stressed out, do not be stressed out. Do not show it. Just stick with the facts and if you want or have the time, map out several different ways the job could go for them.

• if you do A and B, this will happen
• if you do D and C, this will happen
• if I don’t get your approvals, this could potentially happen

Make sure they know that your priority is to deliver on time and to their specs.

I’m sorry to say, but the client is always right. Stick up for what you really believe in but remain flexible.

Okay, your turn

What lessons have you learned the hard way? Share your tips and advice in the comments.