1. Evaluate technical challenge in time
Right at the beginning of the project check for technical challenges. Try to figure out if the building of the website requires new technologies or software which you and your co-workers never mastered before. Is there interactivity you need to program? Do you need to use a software you never touched before? Are there unusual requirements to the server or system software? Is it mandatory to build the website only on a specific server (LINUX or Windows)? Check on additional expenses for server environment and software licenses. Don't forget about the additional time needed when using new software.
2. Calculate the right scope of labor
Forget about holding your thumb up in the wind to guess the scope of labor. Be serious. While talking to your client take notes of all main parts the website should contain. Detail the site's architecture down to the lowest level of the organizational hierarchy. Use an org-chart software or just pencil and paper to create a complete organizational chart. Group similar pages into templates with variable sets of text and image fields. Use Excel sheets for each section and template and calculate the complete scope of labor. Type in the hours for graphic design, web design, programming, flash, tests, server and database setup and don't forget the meetings with your client.
Domain Names
3. Evaluate the correct scope of manpower
How many people will work on the website? How many at the same time and how many can only start after others finished a job? Create a project plan. Use a professional project management software, a spreadsheet program or simply chart paper and pen. Calculate the manpower REALISTICALLY. Use a guiding principle (each country has a different,. This is an American) for each trade. As a rule of thumb you can calculate that up to 25% of weekly time cannot be counted in for labor. For a person with a high demand on creativity the numbers are even smaller.
Consider hiring freelancers when your staff is too small. But do it in time. In the worst case don't be touchy and ask a competitor for help.
4. Get your steps in order and know your process.
First things first, right? When your client made the deposit you will start. Make sure he knows your process so that you can tell him where you are at all times. But do you know your process? Do your co-workers know it? Take care that you are all on the same page and organize your process like this:
1. Creative part and graphic design of Look&Feel
2. Create a numbered list of all pages and content fields and make it available to all participants.
3. Take care for server setup and domain names
4. Create the templates and placeholders (text and images) including the CSS/Script/Flash
5. Start creating/collecting content (text, images, multimedia, interactive)
6. Create the admin site
7. Setup the database
8. Assemble the website and create the pages
9. Bring in the content using the admin or direct access to database
10. Go beta
5. Get the website content in time
The most named reason for the delay of a website is missing content. And inside the missing content the most named is "missing copy text". How comes? Well most clients think they can either write copy by them self or by their staff. And we all know that this almost never happens. Either the text is too small, too large, too bad or simply never delivered. BEFORE starting a huge website make sure that YOU have the content already handy or YOU have the responsibility to create it. Never start without it. Hire a copy writer and collect material from your client in time. Get your client's experts ready for an interview. Before starting a huge website make sure that you meet all people your client named in charge for the project in person. Keep in mind that a huge website has a lot of demand on text and images. Even a 150 page website may need up to 500 different small and large text fields and up to 800 images.
6. Separate static and actual content
Every huge website has content that needs permanent actualization. Take care that you concentrate on filling in these parts only at the very end of your process. Use placeholders instead to test the attributes and quality as well as the functions of the administration site. If the content will be actualized by your client's staff make sure the regarding section in the admin site has an extra on good usability. If you use a content provider for actual stuff check the interface to though website over and over.
7. Check interactive elements in time
If a huge website has inter-active elements start checking them early from different point of views: check different browser and server configurations. Have a look on what will happen in heavy traffic environments. Use vendors who will check your inter-active elements under all traffic and configuration settings and will offer you any help on solving upcoming problems.
8. Use content providers
To fill in a huge website with content requests a lot of labor. Out of your client's view it is extremely important that the content is current. Only then visitors will come often and on a regular basis to your client's website. There are thousands of content providers which offer actual information - static or interactive - to be clipped on the website. Some are free and display their logo instead of payment and others ask for a small fee on a monthly basis or just per view. Talk with your client in time. He may not want to promote another vendor's logo which states that he does not pay for a service and will make look him greedy. He also may not want a third party vendor to mine user data from his website. Get approval from your client for each piece of content that comes from a third party.
9. Take enough time for the website's beta
To check a huge website for failures in content or technology you need much more than just two days. Before you start the project talk to your client and ask him to name people from his staff who will check the beta version of the website through its paces. As a rule of thumb you need one tester for 100 pages/week.
10. Training for your client
A good training is mandatory if your client will use own staff to use the administration website to maintain the content of his website. Schedule the training ahead of the beta and create material to be used. It is good practice to have a PDF manual handy which describes the complete process of handling admin and website and which also addresses known issues. The manual should contain phone numbers and email addresses of you or your responsible co-workers to be available just in case. It also should contain a complete list of all pages as well as text and image fields. If the administration site has a database driven user management you can - in conformation with your client - attach different parts of the website management to different users. This will take lots of pressure away. Make sure that each of your clients "content managers" has a substitute.
And what is the most important part the administration site of a huge website should have? A very good functioning "Undo button"
Web Design of Huge Websites - 10 Tips to Manage the Challenge
Peter Einheuser writes on a regular basis for the Ardis Creative web design blog - http://www.ardis-creative.com/ardisblog/index.php - Beside of help for the the best web design he writes about Photoshop and offers free tutorials.
Peter was a freelance journalist and cartoonist before he want into real business and found Ardis Creative in 1988 in Frankfurt German, then a marketing consulting firm. Today Ardis Creative is working added a full service web design agency and is working out of Fort Lauderdale, USA.
http://www.ardis-creative.com
peinheuser@gmail.com
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