4. CLIENT & USER NEEDS

ASSIGNMENT 2 Made up of 2 Pass, 2 Merit & 2 Distinction criteria: P4 – Design an interactive website to meet a client need P5 – Create an interactive website to meet a client need M1 – Explain the tools and techniques used to create website M2 – Improve the effectiveness of the website following a client review D2 – Discuss the techniques that can aid user access to information D3 – Demonstrate the website meets defined requirements

P4 Identify and explain who the client is Summarise what the users and clients for the website will need the website to be able to do Create a mood board, storyboard and site plan

SCENARIO The company has asked you to create a new website… A forthcoming shopping centre (it will be one of the largest shopping centres in the country, based on the outskirts of Coventry. The centre will have over 200 shops). A new business has set up and requires a website for an online presence. A promotional guide for Rugby (can include what there is to do, sites to visit, entertainment, eating out, shopping, local attractions) A fan site (consider a subject with a decent amount of material that you could work with e.g. horror movies, best year – with shop) Other (it must be pre-approved with your tutor)

WHY PLAN? Tempting to jump straight in an design your site as you go but this can be problematic, leading to repetition, confusing navigation. Need to decide – what is the focus of the site? Sell things Read as many articles as possible Attract advertisers Provide information Promote an event

WHAT MAKES A PLAN? Deciding on topic, content, audience. Site plan – help to decide what information will be included File management – logical folder structure, image folder, organisation Looking at other websites – Storyboard – look at the layout

TASK Look at the listed websites – What do you like about them? What do they have in common? What features do you not like? Is there anything that slows you down? The average Internet user’s attention span is very short, if the site is frustrating to use, hard to navigate or boring – the visitor is likely to leave and not return. You need to try to avoid this.

CLIENT Look at the scenario you have chosen and identify Briefly what the website is that you are going to be making Who is the client (this is the person who wants you to make the site) Who is the target audience – the users of the site (age, gender, location (local, national, international), education (computer literate, expert, novice), financial background (upper, middle, working class) – do you have more than one audience (primary – want to attract, secondary – like to attract, tertiary – might attract) Explain for each point of the target audience – why would they be interested in this particular site.

WHAT WILL YOUR SITE BE The site will need to comprise of at least ten pages, include a range of media (images, sounds, animation and video). The client wants this to appeal to a wide range of users. The site should include interactivity, some CSS, e-commerce element, and consider accessibility. List all the pages you think you will need (Home, About Us/Contact) Consider what content you could include on each page (text, images, videos, sound, animation) Colour schemes Additional / accessibility features

IDENTIFIED NEEDS For the identified needs – you need to discuss (8 lines minimum) what the requirement is for the site for each of the points NATURE OF INTERACTIVITY How will your website be interactive – clickable sound clips/video clips, rollover images, feedback forms, and other forms of interactivity you might choose to include. Will your site need to carry out financial transactions, if so explain. What might you need to include to handle them?

IDENTIFIED NEEDS STATIC vs DYNAMIC SITE A static website is where the information remains the same with little interaction, whereas a dynamic website will incorporate interaction, possibly programming languages ASP, PHP, JavaScript etc – you will need to give an explanation of what each is (static and dynamic) and which you will do.

IDENTIFIED NEEDS IMAGE It’s important for the company to convey a good image, especially if it is a e-commerce site (safety). Should be professional and demonstrate the company is trustworthy. Clear layout, good use of colour and content can help add to consumer confidence. SSL. Explain what image you are going for and how you can achieve it. LEVEL OF SECURITY This needs to be decided early on in design stage. Can anyone access the site, or will some pages be password protected, requiring them to login.

IDENTIFIED NEEDS DEVELOPMENT TIMESCALE A clear idea of timescale for the design and creation of the website needs to be considered. You need to break it down into sections e.g. planning – creating storyboard etc, then creating – creating template, adding content, testing etc. There should be a set time for completion agreed with client and reviews at appropriate stages. SUPPORT AND MAINTAINANCE You will need to consider firstly the users of the website – will they need any support when it is up and running, or will they be left to it (e.g. feedback forms, FAQ, contact details). Secondly you need to consider maintenance, how frequently will content need to be updated. Who will do this and how will it affect the project costs.

IDENTIFIED NEEDS COSTS What costs do you think the project will need to take into consideration (think about getting the site online (domain name, web server, maintenance, support, development, size, and content of the website) VISIBILITY ON SEARCH ENGINES It’s important to get a site high up on the results page, how many times have you gone beyond the first page of results – different search engines use different algorithms for bringing up results – some used to do it by keywords in meta tags, others by how many links you have to other sites. Sponsored link – you can pay to be on the first page of the results. How important is it for you to be on the first page, research how you might get yourself on the first page.

IDENTIFIED NEEDS APPROPRIATENESS OF THE GRAPHICS It is important for the website to be suitable for the target audience – can you make it suitable for a range of users. The graphics used should be appropriate for who you are aiming it at. Avoid inappropriate content and language. COMPLEXITY OF SITE It is important for a website to be easy to use – golden rule was always: you should be able to find what you are looking for within 3 clicks. If people get lost, they will not stay on your site for long. You should consider people that have little computer/Internet experience – how will you be able to navigate your site, how can you simplify it for them?

IDENTIFIED NEEDS DELIVERY OF CONTENT Consider again what the client wants and what the users want. How do you think you can appeal to a range of users, and achieve what the client wants – basically a bit of a summary of previous points.