GPWA Times Magazine - Issue 34 - February 2016

FROM THE GPWA FORUMS #9 TheGooner Private Member BEFORE STARTING: Just a general warning here on “snake-oil” salesmen and design groups that promise that they can build you a website on the cheap that will have all the “whiz-bang” features you want at a fraction of the cost. They are either brilliant experts in this field, or they don’t know what they are talking about. The website business is full of options, and full of people with vastly different skills levels. Typically young enthusiastic groups will want to run off and knock something up quickly, without producing the specs, the designs or technical details, and it’s then going to be very hit-or-miss as to whether you get a good website. Some guys are brilliant — they can work like that — but most groups (especially those from third-world countries) are simply out of their depth, self-taught and lack the discipline to bring their promises together to a coherent final product. If you have an individual idea, with unique elements or functions, then it’s going to take some time to think out properly and design and build it in a way that makes it useful now and in the future. I’m getting a feeling that you are not an IT guy, so I’m going to lean on my experience (in my previous IT career) to do what I always did when talking users through the process and liken it to a house build. STEP 1: THE BASIC IDEA — FUNCTIONS The first thing you need is a functional specification which is an overall plan of what you want your website to do, what you want it to look like, and what technologies or traits you want to use (if you know them). This is like visiting an architect for the first time and saying I want a house. A three-bedroom house, with a swimming pool. And also possibly saying that you like the modern flat plane look, rather than a log cabin approach. This takes time — and usually a couple of iterations — before we have worked out all the kinks (e.g., you want a garage as well). STEP 2: THE DESIGN SPEC — LOOK AND FEEL Then you get the design spec. This will include screenshots and mock-ups, and start laying out how the finished items might look. This is the architect’s detailed design, it specifies the rooms, the shapes, the windows, doors, etc. This takes 2-3 times longer than the first stage as there is a lot more to detail and work through. STEP 3: THE TECHNICAL SPEC — HOW IT WORKS This is where the team specifies exactly how the website will work under the covers. What technologies are involved, what platforms, mobile applications, etc. Consider this the materials spec for a house: What sort of plumbing, what tiles for the roof, what insulation for the walls, etc. It’s likely to be full of details that you don’t understand completely, but you will have other experts to help you determine industry standards. The technical specs are important, but usually quite standard. It doesn’t take as long as detailed design (usually) unless you’ve come up with an original design feature — say you’d like the roof to flip off the garage so that you can park a helicopter in there. At THIS stage the likely cost of the build project can be estimated — because now we know WHAT you want the website to do and HOW it’s (probably) going to be done. To get to this stage in IT/website build probably takes 1/3 of the total time and cost. STEP 4: THE DETAILED DESIGN This is where each of the functions is defined out by the designer to the programmer. Screen layouts, data elements, interaction with other components. It takes a bit of time, but saves time by avoiding confusion. In building parlance, these are the functional working drawings and blueprints that the builders, electricians, plumbers and roofers will refer to in order to build you EXACTLY what you have asked. STEP 5: THE BUILD PROCESS Just as it sounds. Software building is easier (usually) especially if it’s a standard project that the architect and builder have done before. If there are new and novel elements (like that flipping roof on the garage for the helicopter) then these items may blow out. STEP 6: THE TESTING PROCESS Check all the screens, add the data, test the interactions. It takes more time than you think, usually about 1/4 to 1/3 of the build phase. (Continues on next page.) “ Reply With Quote From the GPWA Forums