Web Design For Dummies®, 2nd Edition

Chapter 3. Designing the Right Site for the Right Crowd

In This Chapter

• Determining your audience

• Creating an outline for your site

• Transitioning from outline to site map

• Building a site map

• Deconstructing an existing site

• Marketing to your audience

One of the key balancing acts you as a Web designer must do is reconcile what clients think they want and what their customers actually need. During the Definition stage, you gather a bunch of business requirements. These requirements are really just a client wish list because not all the requirements are feasible within the project's timeline and budget, nor are they appropriate for the end user. This is why it's so important to not only define the three or so overarching business goals for the site, but also determine the top three or so user goals. These combined high level goals become your measuring stick when determining what kind of content and features to include in the site and how best to organize them.

In this chapter, you get to play the role of Information Architect. You determine what kind of people are going to be using the site and think through what kind of things they'll want to do. You find out how to balance customer needs with the client's wish list of requirements and develop an outline and a site map that becomes the foundation of the Web site.

Who Is the Audience?

Before you can design a site, you must first understand the ...