Big picture checklist: web redesign

Designing or redesiging your web site is rarely easy.  There will be tons of little questions related to design details, what specific pages say or don’t say, etc., etc, etc.  But too often, people are ready to agonize over the size and color of logos and buttons before they’ve decided a few of the big picture questions on the web.

There are numerous web design checklists around the web.  Whether you are working with an internal team or bringing in a vendor to help accomplish it, you’ll want to ask yourself some questions and ask the team doing the work a few questions.  Here are five of each to get you started:

5 questions to ask yourself:

Why do you need a new web site?
Do you need to re-brand your organization? Does your site not allow you to take advantage of newer tools and technologies?  Is your content dated and it’s time to give it and the overall look and feel a fresher look?  Is the site not accomplishing what it’s supposed to?  Can you not determine what it is accomplishing?

What is the purpose of your web site? or What organizational need is it filling/supporting?  
Education, Advocacy, Fund raising, Selling, Community, Organizing.  It could be any of these or something else, but you should know and if there are multiple goals, you should know which are higher priority.  In other words – if you could only chose one thing a user would do on your site, what would it be?

Who do you want using your web site?
Educating who?  Advocating what to whom/from whom?  Raising funds from?  Building a community for whom?  You get the picture.  The better you can describe this group or groups, the better you can build a site to engage them.

How will your users find the web site or targeted content on the site?
Search engines, email communications, social networking, offline communications, etc.  Once you have a pretty new site, you’ll want the your world to know.

Do you have the content for the new site or can you develop it in house?
Web sites can be gorgeous, user friendly and built to convert visitors into donors/members/activists.  But content is king.  You have to have something relevant to say.  Do you know what that is?  

Five questions to ask your web design team:

Am I saying this well for the web?
I know my message and have developed content, but need help making it work for the web.

Will it be as simple as possible for users to do the one thing we want them to do?
Will users know what that is and is there anything about the site that would stop them from doing it?

How will I update the site?
Is there an easy to use content management system that allows our staff to add and edit content?  What parts of the site can be changed internally by staff and what will require outside assistance?  

How will the site integrate with my other systems?
Will it be easy for those who sign up, donate or otherwise engage with our new web site to be captured in our current database?  

How will I know the site is accomplishing it’s goals?
(assuming you’ve identified them in #2 above) Will there be an easy way for me to review data on how people use the site?  How will you help optimize that process?

-Stephen