As a technical consultant with technical and design expertise, I often see requests for proposals for websites that state “fully specified” or “easy to develop”. When I look at these requests, more times than not there are little or no true specifications and nothing to indicate the website will be truly easy to develop. Many individuals or business entities looking for freelancers to build a website for them have not thought through what they want and how to get it in detail. The requests for proposals are often a collection of ideas rather than a coherent vision of what is ultimately desired. Many prospective clients need as many business consulting services as they need technical and design services, so I often find myself educating a potential client on how to focus on what the client wants and how to obtain it as an end product.
There is a temptation as consultants to say yes to a project and worry about the details later. This is almost always a mistake. Several key steps should be taken when working with a client to develop a website.
Take the Time to Define the MVP
One of the first things I try to determine is what the client is attempting to achieve by creating a website.
- Once the objectives and key results (OKRs) have been established, determine how a website will help the client achieve these OKRs.
- Ask probing questions to surface any key assumptions that the client has made regarding the website and what is expected.
- Work with the client to determine the minimum features the website should have in order to meet the OKRs. In industry parlance, this is the minimum viable product (MVP). This will help minimize the time to market, assuming that is important.
- If the client has a particular consumer, user, or audience in mind for the website, determine who this is or who they are. If possible, develop some personas that can be used to test some assumptions during the design and development process.
Try to keep the MVP definition step short and sweet. This step should be thorough, but it should also not bog down into analysis paralysis. I typically spend anywhere from 1 to 4 days working with the client on this, depending on the complexity and size of the project.
Website Development Should be Iterative
There are many strategies for developing a website. I prefer an iterative approach. Assuming that we have defined the MVP, rapidly build out the website, and begin testing assumptions that have been made. Have the client select some test users to interact with early iterations of the website. I recommend doing this at least once before moving to a full production launch of the site.
- Have people who match the personas use the website.
- Get feedback and validate the assumptions made.
- If some assumptions are revealed to be true, continue along the same path.
- If some assumptions are revealed to be false, evaluate and pivot if necessary.
Repeat the above steps until the client feels comfortable that the website will meet their OKRs that were defined earlier.
Think About Day-2 Operations
One thing that often gets overlooked in website development for non-enterprise-level websites is day-2 operations. Day-2 operations are all of the activities that are necessary to maintain a website once it has been launched. Websites don’t maintain themselves, and I’ve seen good sites go stale because they aren’t maintained. This ultimately can negate the value of investing in the website in the first place.
- Does the client expect you to maintain the website once it has been delivered? If so, is there a service contract between you and the client specifying the service agreement?
- Is an operations or administration manual included in the deliverables for the client? I have found that including an easy-to-understand document on how to maintain the website makes for happier clients and results in fewer requests for free support once the site has been delivered.
Start with a Soft Launch
I prefer a soft launch rather than an initial big-bang launch to introduce a website to its intended audience. I define a soft launch as either a non-public launch of the website or a launch to a subset of the intended target audience. A soft launch allows the new website to go through a relatively low-risk shakeout phase. If any last-minute issues are discovered, those issues can be fixed without impacting the client’s entire audience.
Conclusion
The things discussed in this article are in no way comprehensive. Many other factors go into preparing to develop a website, but if the items mentioned in this article are considered, the entire process will be easier and the chances of success will increase.
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