Designing your website is much more complex than just taking a brochure or a business card and putting the information on a web page. There are many different processes that different firms use to get to the end goal of a website customized for the client’s needs.

The Discovery Process

My process starts with the client. I interview my clients about which business needs are to be addressed with the addition of their new website. There isn’t a better source for information about their business. I start with a discovery meeting to get an idea of what types of features and functionality their website will require, and to get list of the different bells and whistles in which they may be interested. Using the information gleaned from the discovery meeting, I write my proposal; scoping out the options and pricing.

Upon reconciliation of the proposal and officially kicking off the project, I meed with the client for creative discovery. Prior to this meeting, I tend to give a little homework. This homework is mostly surfing the web ad making note of their favorite sites and features. Using this input, I start the creative process for the look and feel as well as the website architecture. Not enough can be said to stress the importance of website architecture. To put it plainly, the way information is structured and presented has a huge impact on things like your bounce rate, your search rankings and your overall messaging.

The Creative Process

Everyone has a different creative process. Often times my creative process follows the scientific method. As a quick review, my recollection of the scientific method is:

• State or Define the Problem
• Research the Problem and Gather Information
• Form a Hypothesis
• Experiment
• Draw Conclusion

As somewhat of a parallel, my creative process follows the following model:

• Challenge Definition
  Find out what challenges and functions the piece will address.
• Inspiration
  See what solutions other designers and companies have implemented to solve these challenges
• Ideation
  Shape the things that I have found that are appealing into custom solutions to the client’s needs. Look for new directions to take.
• Concept Creation
  From the sketch book to the screen, work out ideas and build concepts for review.
• Collaboration
  Obtain input from other designers or directly from the client. Brainstorm to add or subtract possible hang-ups.
• Refinement
  With multiple rounds of revision, it is possible to get to that sweet spot between the creative ideas I bring to the table and the client’s needs and expectations.

The outcome of the creative and discovery process is a design that marries form with function to present the information of the client’s website in an easy-to-use and easy-to-read manner. The only thing left to do is build it.

The Construction Process

Building a website the right way takes a little more time than many web designers are willing to take. But when the right content meets proper page construction, you can be assured of three things.

1. The page will look the same regardless of platform or browser.
2. When viewed on older browsers, the page will not break, it will degrade gracefully.
3. Search engines will be able to classify and rank the pages accordingly.

After construction is complete and the website is proofed for content, launching the site can take anywhere from 10 minutes to 24 hours. When registering a new domain name and launching a web site, the technology involved in pointing that domain name to the proper server can take up to 72 hours to consistently get a visitor to the proper server and web page.

For more information on how I can help you with your website project, contact me at the coordinates below.

Joseph Money
702 Aster Ave.
Bozeman, MT 59718
TEL : (406)579-4922
EMAIL : contact(at)josephmoney.com