Are We There Yet?

It's true: even simple projects get messy. Christina Wodtke comes clean on Swiss Army knives, the writing on the wall, and the untidy glory of the Boxes and Arrows redesign contest.

Wodtke, Christina. Boxes and Arrows (2006). Articles>Web Design>Project Management>Case Studies

Avoid Edge Cases by Designing Up Front

Better planning and a beefed-up style guide may be exactly what you need to avoid markup derangement or, worse, a dysfunctional product.

Henick, Ben. List Apart, A (2006). Design>Web Design>Project Management>CSS

Big Architect, Little Architect

First came the primordial soup. Thousands of relatively simple single-celled web sites appeared on the scene, and each one was quickly claimed by a multi-functional organism called a "webmaster." A symbiotic relationship quickly became apparent. Webmaster fed web site. Web site got bigger and more important. So did the role of the webmaster. Life was good. Then, bad things started to happen. The size and complexity and importance of the web sites began to spiral out of control. Mutations started cropping up. Strange new organisms with names like interaction designer, usability engineer, customer experience analyst, and information architect began competing with the webmaster and each other for responsibilities and rewards. Equilibrium had been punctuated and we entered the current era of rapid speciation and specialization.

Morville, Peter. Argus Center (2000). Articles>Web Design>Interaction Design>Project Management

Building a Project Site

Managing a Web site project typically does not follow any clearly defined methods or standards of practice. Although there is a lot of 'how to build a site' information out there, very little on how to manage a Web project actually exists. But a project site could be just the answer you are looking for.

Leonard-Wilkinson, Theresa A. W-edge Design (2001). Design>Project Management>Web Design>Workflow

Designing for Limited Resources

When resources are limited, the design must be optimized to make the best use of all resources. To account for this complexity, it is important to have a clear understanding of both sides of the design equation—what you have to work with and what you are trying to build.

Quinn, Laura S. Boxes and Arrows (2004). Design>Web Design>Project Management

Developing a Web Site Prototype

A prototype, both paper and online (and I suggest you build both) is a 'mini' Web site, including content (or content ideas), graphics, multi-media etc., on a smaller scale than the final site. I have found that developing a prototype is a great way to present your ideas to upper management for approval to go 'live.' Also, and more important, an online prototype is an ideal application for user testing to ensure your site's success.

Leonard-Wilkinson, Theresa A. W-edge Design (1999). Design>Web Design>Project Management

Fast Track to Web Accessibility in 5 Steps

Sometimes you don't have the time to sit down and plan out the ideal Web site. Maybe you've just recently been appointed as your organization's webmaster, or have recently been assigned to oversee accessibility operations at your organization, and you discover that your Web site has gaping holes in its accessibility. Rather than panic, you should start with the biggest problems and work your way through the site until you have fixed all of the accessibility errors. After you've 'plugged the holes,' then you can start thinking about a new design, but not until then. This workshop presents a 'fast track to accessibility' that prioritizes your tasks of sorting through and fixing your site's accessibility problems.

Bohman, Paul. WebAIM (2003). Design>Web Design>Accessibility>Project Management

Five Questions to Ask Your Web Development Team

As a client or manager responsible for a web development project you don't need to know anything about how a standards based web site is created. However you do need to know that your project is addressing these five important issues.

Allsopp, John. Western Civilization (2005). Articles>Web Design>Project Management>Standards

Gantt to Glory: Evolving from Project Management to Successful Web Operations

Is the sheer possession of a PMP intended to be the Holy Grail of successful web projects, known to fail at a startling rate, or simply a way to divorce oneself from whatever outcome may result from the web project?

Podnar, Kristina. Content Wrangler, The (2008). Articles>Web Design>Project Management>Planning

Generate a Site Plan

Generating a site plan is an optimal approach to starting your site.

Tech-Writer (2001). Design>Web Design>Information Design>Project Management

How to Plan Manpower on a Web Team

Just how many people does it take to properly manage a website? It depends on the website. Shane Diffily explains how to figure it out.

Diffily, Shane. List Apart, A (2006). Design>Web Design>Project Management>Collaboration

How to Present a Business Case for Web Site Investments

How can you convince others that Web investments are a wise decision in a slow economy?

Costello, Rick. STC Chicago (2003). Articles>Web Design>Project Management>Business Case

In Defense of Scope Creep

Web developers are a tough lot, willing to brave constantly changing technologies, competing “standards,” and tools that are often clumsy and dull. Yet brave as we are, two little words strike fear in the hearts of even the boldest of us, making us consider a change to a less stressful job-air traffic control, perhaps. Scope creep threatens to undermine all our hard work, causing rewrite after rewrite of carefully crafted markup and code. In short, scope creep is evil. That’s the prevailing wisdom. But consider the results of four studies done over the last five years that show that as little as 20% of corporate software projects are successful. Prevailing, it may be, but is it wisdom?

Helms, Hal. List Apart, A (2002). Design>Project Management>Web Design

Intranet Teams: a Leadership and Coaching Role

The intranet team often becomes viewed as a gatekeeper or bottleneck that does little more than say 'no' to business units. The business then reacts by rebelling against this centralised control, or simply working around the intranet team. There is a better way. Intranet teams should instead look to playing a leadership and coaching role in the organisation. These two approaches provide a range of techniques for encouraging organisational change and supporting staff activities.

Robertson, James. Step Two (2004). Design>Web Design>Collaboration>Project Management

Laws of Web Site Management and Digital Branding

We urgently need a quick crash course on web site management; otherwise, connecting with potential customers will become a very tough challenge. Lucky are those who have a unique domain name without the additional baggage of extraneous language, numbers, dashes or slashes. Studies have shown that 90 percent of business names are problematic. These problems are serious issues for achieving higher visibility.

Javed, Naseem. Communication World Bulletin (2004). Articles>Web Design>Project Management>Marketing

Lean Interaction Design and Implementation

Lean UI development in Feature Driven Development is achieved through right-first-time implementation of the interaction designer's intent using David Harel's Statechart notation to model the interaction design.

Anderson, David J. UIdesign (2003). Design>Web Design>Project Management>Interaction Design

Managing a Large Web Page Project  

Web page projects can be completed in minimal time if you have your team's buy-in. You need a team leader that finds creative ways to energize the team and has excellent organizational and communication skills. Standards, spreadsheets, and databases, and a knowledgeable technical and creative group provide essential tools to success. But, enthusiasm and synergy are the key components that make the project work, with upper management behind you all the way. Completion of the project finds excellent bonuses for a job well done!

Ricks, Debra. STC Proceedings (1997). Articles>Web Design>Project Management

Planning a Web Site Redesign in Six Steps  

True Web site redesigns focus on much more than visuals. Brink and Regenold's redesign process will help technical communicators rethink a site from the ground up.

Brink, Marcia and Michele Regenold. Intercom (2004). Articles>Web Design>Redesign>Project Management

Project Definition and Scope  

A template for providing historical information, available industry research, initial scope, a rough schedule, and implementation plans for the proposed project. It should outline business objectives of the project. It is to be completed by the project requestor – usually a business stakeholder.

Malone, Erin. AIfIA (2003). Resources>Web Design>Project Management>Workflow

Straight From the Horse's Mouth: You Only See the Tip

Bill Wetherell talks with Tom Wailes about how one team at Yahoo! turned the normal design process on its head. Their thoughtful approach was successful, Wails posits, because they worked small and crafty while being inclusive in most useful ways.

Wodtke, Christina and Bill Wetherell. Boxes and Arrows (2007). Design>Web Design>Project Management

Ten Tips for Managing a Successful Web Redesign

Processes evolve. Over time and several redesigns, a few points screamed to be kept in mind: communicate with the client, be scalable, plan to plan, test your assumptions, analyze your current site, and so on. We ran these mini-philosophies by industry leaders and newbies alike. The result? Our collection of things to think about evolved into—drum roll, please—10 EXPERT TIPS TO A SUCCESSFUL REDESIGN. Redesign is happening. Address the need. And stay on track while you do it.

Goto, Kelly and Emily Cotler. Communication World Bulletin (2004). Design>Web Design>Redesign>Project Management

Ten Ways to Speed Up Website Building

As a freelance web developer, time is money. I use many different tricks to increase my productivity and these are my top selections for saving time.

ReEncoded. Design>Web Design>Project Management

Think-Then-Do

The single most difficult and important skill for a web designer is: Remembering what you're doing. It is incredibly easy to get bogged down on the surface level of design, pushing boxes and buttons this way and that around the page until it appears to have perfect visual balance. This is: A Complete Waste of Time. Before looking at how to design on screen, let's consider how to think like a successful designer. To be most successful, you've got to know what you're trying to achieve, and take the most direct path to achieve it.

Hunt, Ben. Web Design From Scratch (2006). Design>Web Design>Project Management

Use Cases Part II: Taming Scope

The use-case model can be a powerful tool for controlling scope throughout a project's life cycle. Because a simplified use-case model can be understood by all project participants, it can also serve as a framework for ongoing collaboration and a visual map of all agreed-upon functionality. Use it to plan, to negotiate, and to prevent scope creep.

Carr, Norm and Tim Meehan. List Apart, A (2005). Articles>Web Design>Project Management

Value-Driven Intranet Design

Within most corporations, taking ownership of an intranet is an unglamorous, exhausting, and thankless job for a new intranet manager. But if approached with the same rigor, discipline, and focus as any other business initiative, the task can quickly become much simpler.

Singh, Shiv. Boxes and Arrows (2004). Design>Web Design>Intranets>Project Management