Design Before Code or Horse Before The Cart

I’m always amazed when I meet a website owner who tells me that the first time they saw any version of a new site design was when it was shown to them as a web page. How can this process be helpful to anyone? There will, undoubtedly, be changes to be made—probably extensive and time consuming changes. The programming environment is very inflexible when it comes to big changes in the look and feel of a site.

Software developers have made it very easy to create the layout of a site prior to any actual web programming. Changes are easily and intuitively made. As long as certain guidelines are followed (pertaining to the limitations current browser capabilities), a complete and approved design can be created and then used for making the necessary parts that will become a website. Adobe Systems is the clear industry leader for such software. I use their complete Master Collection of applications. But there are other suitable applications, including many in the ever-growing open source market.

My process always involves client contribution. I show my client design concepts (usually more than one) with the invitation to offer changes and/or suggestions. Then there are other ‘checkpoints’ along the way at which I will show the progress. Ultimately, the collaborative effort can then be converted to web-ready graphics and there will be no surprises upon completion.

I would be happy to apply this process to your website. Contact me for a free consultation.

This entry was posted on Friday, December 5th, 2008 at 9:05 am and is filed under Website Design & Development, Website Tips. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.