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WHO WILL USE THIS SITE?
A web site should be flexible, and may serve in different roles.
However, some web sites may be better off as completely different
creations, rather than try to force one site to meet all the
roles described below. Large company's really NEED Intranet functions,
and use them for a variety of HR management tasks. All companies
appreciate new ways to serve client's needs. Public access from
the Internet gives your company a sense of place in the world.
Our Company - A Company Site
Intranet, with Controlled Access
Secure content (SSL certificates, NT Security)
Intranet services
Applications may include Time and Expenses, HR, scheduling, proprietary
software.
Database functions are often vital.
Clients - with Secure Access
Extranet, Controlled Access, Secure and Proprietary.
Encrypted pages with SSL certificates. (Either bought or home-made)
Document mgmt, custom services,
Boutique contact mgmt, customized presentations.
Database functions are often included.
A form of Ecommerce - Doing business with the Web.
The Public
Basically insecure, unless there is an Ecommerce element.
General information pages.
Unprotected content.
Database elements would be a nice addition.
"Public domain" resources.
HOW WILL THEY REACH THE WEB
SITE?
Your target audience may have special capabilities that would
permit certain design options. For example, Intranet sites (inside
a company's network) normally have far fewer speed and file size
restrictions, while public Internet sites normally are very sensitive
to the number of "K" (thousands of bytes) that must
be transmitted to show each web page.
HOW WILL THE WEB SITE BE VIEWED?
Not every user of your web site will be connecting with Internet
Explorer. There are still users who rely on Netscape, and others
who are experimenting with new PALM browsers. The new WAP (Wireless
Access Protocol) Internet interfaces for cellular phones has
also attracted an audience. It is good to know the type of software
browser your clients may be using to connect. Please choose one
of the below.
GOALS OF THE WEB SITE
What is your organization working to achieve with their web site?
What business needs are being met? This is a critical question.
An Internet Store can be a goal for a retailing operation, but
is may not be appropriate for manufacturing. Document libarary
functions are a way to deliver Customer services. The Internet
as a "digital brochure" is well established, and can
be an important role for any company web presence. And the Internet
is not foreign to unusual ideas.
What would your current clients do with a web
site? Would they use it to submit orders, get support, view project
status, or get company information? Can a web site help with
current projects? How can it better support marketing efforts,
and other business activities?
An Internet Store
Delivers services or sells goods directly.
Reflects an important activity of the company.
Sells to consumers, or B2B.
Document Server
Supplys information requests from employees or clients.
Provides a pool of information, available by request.
Tech support or product information.
Advertising / Business Brochure
Information about your organization, available to prospects and
potential customers.
A showcase for resources about your organization.
Contact information and product sales tool.
Something Else…
What "else" is there? A new type of service? Some new
way to interact with the world? If nothing else, web site design
has shown how old paradigms can be destroyed with new ways of
thinking. Exploring creative ideas has both risks and rewards.
The Internet may be the ideal forum for presenting and delivering
an original concept.
Something Else?
WHERE WILL THE WEB SITE COME
FROM?
Choosing the correct host platform for your web site can make
a big difference down the road. A web site should be delivered
from a location with a solid connection to the Internet. The
web site host should also be prepared to deal with Domain Name
Service (DNS) issues, and also maintain Email accounts. Many
companies have the internal resources to perform these functions,
but an outside hosting company (an ISP, or "Internet Service
Provider") is still the preferred choice for a public Internet
site.
WHEN WILL THIS SITE BE AVAILABLE?
Ambitious web sites can take years to develop. Casual "digital
brochures" can be created in minutes or hours. A good working
relationship between the client and the designer is vital toward
a timely implementation. The technical people and designers create
the template, but the company must provide the most important
component- Content. Be aware of this, and don't let your organization's
ability to deliver content for the web site be an impediment
to it's rapid development. Most sites will be modified once they
are first established, but it is the initial presentation that
is the most important.
HOW WILL THE WEB SITE BE CREATED?
Web designers have an increasing selection
of options when building web sites. Apache, the public-domain
free web server software, remains the most popular choice for
a web site server. Sites built to use Apache will often run unchanged
on Microsoft's IIS server. IIS, or Internet Information Service,
is Microsoft's answer to Apache, and is provided as part of the
NT / Windows 2000 Server operating system suites. PERL
is the original scripting language for web servers; complex sites
such as Amazon.com can be written with PERL. Cold Fusion
combines development speed (and performance problems) with an
HTML-like programming language that a large number of developers
support. Cold Fusion runs on Apache or IIS. ASP is Microsoft's
alternative to both Cold Fusion and PERL, and works with IIS
on a Microsoft server. (Visual Interdev is the programming
environment for ASP web sites.)
HTML is the way original web pages were
designed, and remains the foundation display technology for the
Internet. CGI (Common Gateway Interface) is a system for
creating programs in C or PERL that run on a web server and can
be used from any browser. CGI is inexpensive and efficient to
implement. DHTML involves new technology, mostly implemented
in Internet Explorer or Netscape 4.0 and higher, for using the
visitor's computer to run JavaScript programming. Flash
is a non-HTML display technology that can do quick animation,
as with Shockwave (a slow technology that may still re-emerge.)
RealPlayer and Microsoft's Windows Media Player
can show video or audio.
Java is a special-purpose programming
lanuguage, which is fast being turned into a proprietary interface
to Oracle databases. Java, please note, is completely
different from JavaScript.
WHO WILL MAINTAIN THE WEB
SITE?
Creation of an initial web site should be, in our opinion as
a consultant, with the help of an outside technical consultant.
However, the maintenance of the web site (Webmaster) should be
managed in-house. The Webmaster is primarily involved in content-management,
the most important part of a web site and the most difficult
to separate from core company activity.
HOW MUCH WILL THE WEB SITE
COST?
Costs
for a web site vary widely. A small site with much design can
cost 10K and up; big sites can run into millions of dollars.
Many businesses are well served with "stock" art and
pre-designed templates, but a professional designer adds an element
that can turn a good site into a great site.
Good design is important, as is a careful technical
presentation, but a small business should not require weeks of
work for a solid web site. We believe strongly in web sites under
$10,000, and consider it a virtue to deliver strong and effective
presentations, in consultation and collaboration with a professional
designer, in the $8,000 range.
"Something special" can always be
added. Database systems and customized features add greatly to
the cost of a site, but increase its function and ability to
perform work.
DESIGN ISSUES
A web site is not just text and written content. Pictures and
custom graphics are important elements of the presentation. Some
companies may have significant amounts of art suitable for a
web site, especially after a new brochure or presentation. However,
other organizations may need new art developed. This could range
from some basic graphics to an entire corporate image, complete
with logos, letterhead, and other printed material.
Stock art does exist for web sites that may be applicable to
your organization. However, most companies require custom art
and graphics. There is no substitute for good design. A professionally
designed web site will remain an effective voice for your company
for many years.
IF YOU CURRENTLY HAVE A WEB
SITE:
What do you feel your web
site should be doing
that it is not, currently?
Please use the space below to
describe any special issues, requirements, goals, or characteristics
of your company's operations important to a web site project
that may have not been outlined in the above questionaire:
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