Before starting a web project, one of the most important questions I ask our clients is "Why do you want a website?" "What do you what your website to do for you?". Generally, the answer lies somewhere between wanting to get more clients and to have the site help bring in more business. The web has become the most important marketing source to most businesses, and our clients are seeing the importance of a strong web presence.
The first step in getting a website is to determine how to get a website, and lucky for us, people come knocking on our door to help them. We realize that our clients have expertise in something, but that it might not be websites, or anything to do with the internet. People come to Mindfly because we have expertise with current practices in web standards, web design, and online social networking. So, it may come as a surprise that we're putting a lot of energy into the beginning steps of a project, before we even turn on a computer. Getting back to the basics has turned out to be a fantastic move on our part, and we're doing more and more work with paper, scissors, tape and pencils than we've ever done before.
Enter the brainchild of Mindfly's Web Design: the Paper Prototype. Now, we don't want to divulge all of our secrets, but it is certainly worth sharing that a well planned website is the cat's meow. Not only are we able to better estimate the cost of a project after creating a paper prototype, but we are also able to visually show the client a project scope. Designers and coders develop a common understanding of the basic functions and layout of the design, and we start to identify red flags before it's too late. With a wireframe done in pencil, we can create a mock-up of any page of a site on the fly without color, images, fonts, and content getting in our way.
Here's how it works: Take a large sheet of paper that serves as the monitor. Then using a pencil, block out each section of the page that the client is requesting. For example, a page might include a menu, a sub-menu, featured products, subscribe to newsletter, opening paragraph, large photo, and a Flickr feed. All of these elements can be drawn roughly with pencil and cut out into simple shapes. We can then discuss hierarchy and importance of elements by specifically pointing at them and moving them around the page. The best part of a prototype is that it starts to generate new ideas and ways of thinking about a design. With everyone in the room looking at the same layout, the "ands" and "buts" and "what if's" all get addressed together. This has proven to be much more efficient for sites where a lot of content is to be presented to the users on a single page. The designer doesn't have to come up with all the ideas by themselves, and everyone has a chance to feel included and as if their concerns have been heard.
No matter if you're planning on having a "simple" site or a complex mix of videos, blogs, forums and articles, we can't stress enough the importance of planning it out on paper first. For your next web project, consider asking for a planning paper prototyping session, or try one on your own. The benefit of having Mindfly involved is that we have years of experience with the web that helps us develop questions, generate new ideas, and can evaluate the complexity of certain features. Regardless, if you include a planning stage in your next project, we can assure you you'll be much happier with the overall process, and you'll probably be more successful than if you didn't.
