01 April 2004

Planning Ahead

Since I am on the matter of re-development today, I would like to show you something I have been testing out. The idea is to plan ahead before diving into development, by drawing up a complete structure of the site beforehand.

planning ahead with a project map planning ahead with a project map

At this point you should be thinking about usability, and effectiveness of certain methods. It will differ depending on whether you are developing a web site or a web based system, but the basic rules remain the same.

I have been drawing this Project Map over the last two days for a system I am developing. It pretty much summarizes all the issues I have been thinking about and planning ahead for. While I plan ahead like this, I can find ways of addressing the Usability Issues of the system, and create a better Information Architecture.

This approach might not be a very new one for you, but to me it is a whole new method of developing. To plan out everything I can think of first before I even start coding.

I must admit that I have already built a relational database for the system, but that seems like another part of the planning, since it gives you an idea as to what the best way to structure the system will be.

I will be using this same technique for the wubbleyew.com re-development. By the way, thanks to all who gave me input into my wubbleyew.com 'rethink'. Maybe I will post a project map for the new wubbleyew.com when it is done.

Comments ( 4 )

  1. Eric

    Looks very comprehensive - I usually take content from the client and divide it up in Word, which I guess I do because an early web client gave me content in this manner, but this seems like a better way to go about things, and I will give it a try next time. It's more like a website and less like a text document.
    03 April 2004 at 02:15

  2. Phil Baines

    I'm glad your gonna give it a go.

    Let me know how it works out?

    For me it helped with the natural progression of decisions I normally make (and remake) during development.

    This time however, I have made all the major choices (I'm sure some will change) before going into development.

    So, by spending a day planning ahead, I have probably saved myself those few days of worthless coding that inevitable get thrown away when I realise a flaw in my logic and information design.
    03 April 2004 at 02:44

  3. Nollind Whachell

    You're right, this isn't something new for a lot of larger firms. A smaller one-man company could maybe get away without it but it's still better to have because it not only helps you, it helps your client. In otherwords, it helps everyone be on the same page. This is more and more of critical importance the larger the collaboration effort and team involved.

    Check out Web ReDesign: Workflow that Works ( http://www.web-redesign.com/ ) for more info on this. I thought I was alone for quite a while in my process and development beliefs but when I found this book, I felt quite vindicated in sticking to my beliefs. Nice to know there are others out there who feel the same way.
    03 April 2004 at 05:55

  4. Phil Baines

    I just bought it this morning on Amazon. I went to Borders to have a preview, and likes what I saw. Veens forward really got me going.
    07 April 2004 at 13:55

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