| If you're at the start of a new website project then | | | | the information architecture rather than getting |
| you need to read this article to make sure that you | | | | distracted by design elements like colours, textures |
| don't waste valuable time at the start using the | | | | and so on. |
| wrong "technologies" for design. | | | | Wasting Time and Effort |
| Websites belong to the world of technology and | | | | If you design in a graphical editor and/or start coding |
| software, but that does not mean that you can only | | | | at the start then the chances are you are just |
| use hi-tech methods to create them! Paper and pencil | | | | wasting your time. You may think that presenting |
| (and eraser) are the best tools you can use to start | | | | flashy digital mock-ups or prototypes gives a better |
| designing your new website. | | | | impression, but when the client asks for something |
| If instead you race ahead and use graphical editors | | | | completely different then you will inevitably have to |
| and/or coding straight away then you risk making | | | | start from scratch again. There is nothing wrong with |
| one of these common problems: | | | | using software to create a mock-up, but you must |
| - Distraction | | | | get the basics agreed first. |
| - Wasting Time and Effort | | | | Poor Design |
| - Poor Design | | | | It is crucial to design the basic site layout as soon as |
| Distraction | | | | possible in the design process, and this is most easily |
| Photoshop and other graphical editors are powerful | | | | accomplished on paper. If you do this and organise |
| tools that let your imagination run wild and it is very | | | | the data in a clear and intuitive way then you will be |
| common for people to want to "experiment" with | | | | well on your way to developing a site that users will |
| design ideas at the start. However if you jump right | | | | enjoy using. However, if you skip this step and start |
| into to software then you inevitably lose sight of the | | | | using technology too soon, then the usability issues |
| website's purpose. | | | | may not show up until much later when it will be too |
| The first design task should always be information | | | | late or very expensive to fix. |
| organisation. You need to know which information will | | | | Starting your web design process on paper not only |
| be presented and how it will be organised so that the | | | | saves you time and effort, but will result in a site |
| user can navigate around the site. This is best | | | | that delivers a much better experience to your |
| performed using old-fashioned methods such as pencil | | | | target users. |
| and paper. It lets you concentrate on the details of | | | | |