Lately there have been alot of insightfull posts on how people or teams of people tackle projects. So I decided to tell you what process I follow when doing webdesign for a client.
Step 1: Information Gathering: This step is one of the most important steps I believe. At this point I try to get as much information from the client regarding; target audience, purpose of the website (sell, inform etc..), look and feel client wants etc.. Furthermore I do research on the background of the client/company and the workfield he/she works in. Getting a good understanding of the type of business or service the client has helps alot with developing and designing I think.
Step 2: Is sketching out lay-outs/logos/logotypes/wireframes. In this phase my aim is to get a good feeling what content the clients wants on the website, aswell as finding out what style the client wants through sketches of logo`s and lay-outs.
Step 3: After we agree on the logo, style and content of the website I`ll make more detailed lay-outs and wireframes to have different views on where content could go and where it looks best. In this phase color and graphics are added aswell.
Step 4: I present several lay-outs to the client and we agree wich one (or wich pieces) will be used for the final design
Step 5: All previous steps will be used to complete the final product.
Step 6: Final adjustments are made to design/code and the website is tested. If the website passes the test phase it is put online.
Well that`s about it, I may have left out some small bits here and there but this is pretty much how I work.
The way we work!