The Website Design Process
How does Daydream build a website?
Every web design job that Daydream undertakes is classed as a design project, which is broken down into several distinct stages. Each stage is made up of a set of specific tasks that are performed in order to reach a milestone, or deadline set at the end of each stage.
Below we describe the typical workflow for a website design project from the perspective of a client, to help you gain an understanding of the various stages and tasks involved in any website design project.
Consultation
We begin every design project with a face-to-face meeting, free of charge and with no commitment required. We will ask you a few questions on topics such as your business history, your client / customer base and what goals / outcomes you would like to achieve with your business. This enables us to gain a clearer picture of your business, so we can better assess your design needs. We will also ask you about the nature of the design project to be undertaken and what problems are to be solved. These discussions help formulate a design brief, which is then formally presented to you for review, along with a quote.
Quote and Service Agreement
A detailed quote is then sent to you, outlining the time required to perform each stage of the project along with associated costs. If you are a first time client, a service agreement is also included with the quote – this document further outlines the working relationship between yourself and Daydream, so you are fully aware of our obligations to you and vice versa. Once you return written approval of the quote and agreement, the project is then considered to be live.
Research
We conduct extensive research into the design problem stated within the brief, and this involves reviewing the picture of your business along with your position in your industry’s landscape – this includes looking at where you are positioned amongst your clients, prospects, and your competition, and how you are currently interacting with these groups. We collate visual examples to help build this information, and then we compile our research findings together to help determine which design direction shall be most appropriate to solve the design problem. This is presented to you as a written document for your review prior to continuing with wireframes and concept designs.
Wireframes
Wireframe documents are a basic visual guide, that helps to quickly map out the overall structure and presentation of the website. Wireframes are intentionally ‘lo-fi’, ie. they are simple black and white illustrations with no styling or branding applied – this allows for proper assessment of the structural planning of the website without any added distractions, and also allows for quicker turnaround / revisions of the proposed design direction.
Concept Designs
Upon approval of the wireframes, Daydream will develop a series of branding concepts to be applied to the agreed structure of the website. These concept designs are a often a series of static JPG files, compiled into a presentation for review / approval. Rather than being an exact faithful rendering of the finished site design, concept designs aim to portray the overall branding and personality of the website, and thus there may be some minor elements that are subject to change in a design, post approval of the concept. For example, new ideas may be considered and iterated into the finished design, which weren’t covered in the original concepts.
Site Development
Once the concepts are approved, we take these designs and use them as the basis for the construction of your website. Construction tasks are varied depending on the nature of the project, however they typically involve one or more of the following:
- Template design: This involves coding a template file package based on the concept designs
- Test servers: Setup of a test website area to allow you to log in periodically and view website development progress
- Content Management System (CMS) setup: This involves setting up the website software that powers your website, and customising it to meet your needs. More info on CMS systems >
- Content population: Importing your website text, images and multimedia (known as content) to fill your site with initial content for launch
- Testing / Debugging: A number of checks and tests are performed to ensure your site complies with Australian accessibility laws, XHTML / CSS standards, and SEO methods. More info on these topics >
Delivery
The final stage of the website design project involves delivery of the website materials to your webhost provider, and then seeking final approval and sign-off before formally launching the website to the public. This involves one or more of the following:
- Liaison with web host: Contacting the webhost supplier to gain access to your webhost account
- Uploading of content: This involves the transfer of the website content from the test server to the live server
- Website launch: We pull the wrapping off your website and grant access to the public upon approval, and we submit your website to major search engines if the website is brand new.
FAQ’s
How do you assure satisfaction of each stage of the project?
Each stage is concluded with a comprehensive presentation or review, to allow you to fully assess the work conducted and to give you an opportunity to provide feedback and suggestions. We seek your full approval of each stage prior to commencing the next, and we also welcome enquiries at any point of the project if this is required.
How do you manage revisions or requests for additional work?
Revisions are inevitable, and a round of minor revisions is automatically factored into the quote. In addition, additional work may be commissioned anytime within the duration of the project. At every step of the process, you will be notified of the proposed revision / work addition, the impact this revision may have to the timeframe if relevant, and the costs for undertaking this extra work if applicable.
Do you test your websites to ensure they meet accessibility laws and design standards?
Absolutely! Every site we build is designed to be fully compliant with Australian law regarding the accessibility of digital information, and we also ensure that our work is XHTML / CSS standards compliant. On top of this, all of our websites must pass a rigourous compatibility check across several browsers and computer environments to ensure maximum consistency across the variety of browsers on the market.
What measures do you take to ensure my site will be found easily in Google or another search engine?
Every detail in our website design contributes towards maximising your presence on Google and other search engines, by allowing your website to be fully “crawled”, or indexed for search engine listing. This is known as Search Engine Optimisation (SEO), and it is seperate to Search Engine Marketing (SEM) which is an ongoing process of review and strategy to improve your search engine ranking over time. While Daydream performs SEO tasks as standard, we generally don’t perform SEM tasks; however we can refer you to our network of SEM specialists who can perform this task for you. We also are in contact with several professionals who can help you utilise social network sites such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn should you require this service.
Tell me more about the Content Management System (CMS)
A Content Management System (CMS) is a piece of software that allows you to easily add to, or maintain the images, text and multimedia on your website – this being the content on your website. This is in contrast to a Static HTML website, which requires certain technical expertise to maintain. CMS sites have many advantages over static websites by allowing you more control over the management of your website – and maintaining content with a CMS requires very little computer knowledge or skill. We offer a range of content management systems as standard, and we can also train you in how to use a CMS to manage content on your site at the conclusion of a project. However should you specifically wish to have a static HTML site, we can also build this.
Do you also host websites or domain names?
We prefer to focus our attention on building high quality websites, and because of this we currently don’t host websites – however we can refer you to our network of webhosts who can provide you with this service, plus we can assist you in setting this up, every step of the way.