1 Sequential Process vs. Iterative Process

I’m more a software developer than a website designer. In software development we moved from a sequential process (waterfall) to iterative processes many years ago. If projects get more and more complex you simply cannot design everything up front. So you make several iterations of design and implementation, everytime improving quality and also your knowledge about the specific project needs and circumstances. So your approach is better than a chaotic one, but for complex sites I would suggest to go iterative.

posted at 08:33 am on December 05, 2006 by Handy Andy

2 Untitled

Andy, you cannot compare a software development projekt with a website. Web designers are creative people, software developers are nerds. So with those different kind of people you want to run the same process? Never ever…

posted at 09:42 am on December 05, 2006 by Jochen Kurz

3 Wait a minute...

(@Jochen: Not to go too off-topic, but creative people are found in every walk of life, and in every position, including software development. That’s too broad a brush to be painting with…)

For me, this article made good sense, and seemed like a relatively painless, even fun way to get websites done… in my dreams.

I truly do wish most shops knocked out projects like this. But I’ve never seen it.

So does the author have examples of sites that happened under this utopian process, that I may gaze longingly at the fruitful result of their workflows?

Gotta go – the latest edge case awaits.

posted at 02:16 pm on December 05, 2006 by John Dunagan

6 I'm a One-man show...not too realistic

While the proposed process is very well put together, and great for larger firms with big clients, I currently design mostly for small and medium sized businesses who are not interested in extensive user testing and usability reports. They also are generally unwilling to incur the extra cost that is associated with a longer process. In your article, you mention that it may not be suitable for smaller sites, which is mostly true.

On a larger site, I think it is valuable and reasonable to expect the level of detail you call for. There’s a book that is out that lays out a very similar process, called Web Redesign 2.0: Workflow that Works” . It certainly helped me understand a thorough design, development, and documentation process (with helpful screenshots).

Overall, your article is a very helpful resource, thank you!

posted at 06:30 pm on December 05, 2006 by Zack Katz

7 Damn textile links!

Here’s a working link to the book I mentioned: Web Redesign 2.0: Workflow that Works

posted at 06:34 pm on December 05, 2006 by Zack Katz

8 Customers likes and dislikes

I think a sequential process for website development is not realistic, since your customer has to LIKE the website you are building. Website building is not a technical and graphical issue alone, it’s also a kind of art. And the website developer will develop some thing that the customer does like and some others that he does not like. So once you get feedback from your customer you’ll have to take some steps back and redefine your previous results.

posted at 07:04 pm on December 05, 2006 by Dieter Havemann

9 ""

Dieter, I think the process described in the article is for helping the website developer focus on his own work. Of course there will be customer feedback, but that’s at the end of the process, not after every single step.

posted at 07:31 pm on December 05, 2006 by Georg Dieser

10 Made it simple

Loved the way you broke it down and made it so simple anyone could understand project assessment thanks for the great read.

posted at 02:22 pm on December 08, 2006 by Alice Pretchet