Nowadays people prefer buying everything online, right from vegetables to electronic gadgets. Hence, owning a website is mandatory for every size of business now. No matter what products/services they offer.
The crucial part of website design is its function. How responsive, interactive, and user-friendly it. Plus functions matter the most. So, the website will attract visitors and educate them about various products. It will further guide them with the buying process and enable a pleasant shopping experience.
To be precise, every element of your website must perform its desired function. To achieve that, you have to develop a well-structured website with consistent design. A web design workflow can help you achieve your perfect website effectively.
As we know, web design comprises multiple tasks and demands cross-functional collaborations, often within very tight deadlines. Hence, following a detailed website design and development process can speed up your website design work.
Not all clients know about the website design process. Thus, having a web design workflow can help your clients understand how the website design process works.
Yes, clients often prefer a clear road map/actionable plan for their web design project. Educating them on the web design workflow allows you to showcase your expertise and authority in delivering a website that drives results. Transparent communications often lead to happier clients, which in turn means seamless work for your team.
What is a Web Design Workflow?
A web design workflow is a set of processes that cover every step required to create a website. Yes, more than the design process, the workflow considers everything from scratch to the post-launch of the website.
The motive is to have a smooth web design process allowing you to monitor every step. In short, a website design workflow streamlines all web design processes. Thus, you can end up with an optimal functioning website.
The web design workflow breaks the entire web design process into three phases:
- ★ Planning: The planning phase involves two steps. The marketing team defines the goals and target audience of the website, while the IT team converts that into a working infrastructure.
- ★ Implementation: The content team creates compelling visuals and copies that resonate with the target audience. The IT team integrates that content into the website.
- ★ Testing and Launch: The final step is to test the mockup website internally before its launch.
Why should you have a Web Design Workflow?
Web design workflow allows your team to meticulously design and curate every part of the web design process. Here are the three most crucial reasons for establishing a web design workflow.
♦ Better Planning
The plan is the foundation of your project. Having a precise plan allows you to understand the entire website development process. Project documentation enables you to monitor all processes, allowing you to make informed decisions, anticipate challenges and collaborate better with your team members.
♦ Time Management
As web design workflow streamlines all design processes in the most efficient way, it helps in increased productivity. With increased productivity, you can save a lot of time. Furthermore, it also enables efficient cross-functional collaboration.
♦ Improved Quality
A web design workflow allows you to manage the content effectively. Your team will become better in the respective work areas as you structure your workflow. Thus, you can improve the overall quality and consistency throughout all of your marketing assets.
As we now know the benefits of having a web design workflow, let us learn how to build a web design workflow.
♦ Things to Consider to Build a Web Design Workflow
Before starting your web design workflow, consider the following points. It will help you create a seamless process with no bottlenecks.
- ▸ Budget and timeline of the client
- ▸ The target audience of the website
- ▸ Your available resources
- ▸ Design elements creation
- ▸ Content curation
- ▸ Website launch deadline
Once you understand the above-said points, you can create a customized web design workflow for every individual client.
How to Create the Ideal Web Design Workflow?
♦ Kick-off Meeting
Organizing a kick-off meeting is the first step in the planning phase. That allows you to make sure everyone involved in the project is on the same page. For instance, clients, team members, and any external stakeholders have clear expectations of the project.
Kick-off meetings also enable you to develop a perfect roadmap for the project and determine general deadlines and goals. Thus, everyone can work towards it most efficiently.
♦ Define Objectives and Target Audience
Defining your objectives or goals will set a clear path for working towards them. The purpose of the website varies with every business and its services. However, in general, possible goals of the website include:
- ▸ Selling products/services
- ▸ Attracting new hires through the careers section of the website
- ▸ Increasing brand awareness
- ▸ Attracting more visitors to your blog
Whatever the objective is, defining it in the prior will declutter the design process and avoid bottlenecks. Also, your website may have various target audiences for each section. For example, the career section must cater to job seekers, while the product page addresses potential clients. So, you would need to adjust your workflow for every segment of your website.
To be precise, if the objective of your website is to sell products/services, you must have a predefined sales target and a buyer persona first hand.
♦ Plan the Site Structure
Planning the site structure involves two steps: 1) Creating a sitemap and 2) Drawing up wireframes.
A sitemap is the visual representation of the actual website. It provides information like your videos, files, and pages of your website. Thus, a sitemap allows designers to plan the design process effectively.
A wireframe outlines the look of every website page. It gives you a precise overview of how the user interfaces function without getting interrupted by unnecessary visual elements. You can add the crucial elements forefront enhancing your user’s shopping experience.
♦ Finalize Your Content Management System (CMS)
Ideally, your client might have a predetermined content management system that they would want you to use. Otherwise, it is time to decide now.
Choosing the ideal CMS for your website depends on the purpose of the website. For instance, if the website is to have hundreds of pages, you will need a robust CMS to handle the load. However, if it is a few-page portfolio site, you will get more options.
♦ Review Content and Design Elements
After all the groundwork, you can now start working on the visual elements. That means to design. That includes the overall web page design, branding assets, print assets, and social media graphics. Suppose the web design project is a part of a branding project; you need to include more visuals.
You know the strength of your design team better. So, make sure you assign the right task according to their strengths. You can allocate the standalone tasks to every designer rather than asking them to create design assets for the entire website. That will bring the best out of every designer promptly, allowing a well-designed website.
♦ Content Creation
Now comes the content after the design element. Anything including copy and other content that is not related to design needs to be done. At this stage, you will integrate both the design and content and make sure they work well together.
Sometimes, if the block of copy is too long or too short for the given space, you would need to curate it accordingly. It is like a fine-tuning phase, and there is always room for improving the results.
♦ Testing
The website is almost ready by now. But any projects are bound to errors, so testing is inevitable. Thus, it is a crucial part of the web design workflow.
Testing will allow you to:
- ▸ Fix any bugs like buffering videos, broken links, and other functional defects.
- ▸ Proofread all the website content like various pages, posts, or product descriptions to make your website content errort free.
- ▸ Check whether the website is mobile-friendly. Yes, testing the website responsiveness on mobiles is mandatory as mobile presence is crucial for businesses today.
- ▸ Make sure you have implemented SEO settings correctly.
♦ Review and Approval
It’s time to send it to the client and get their feedback or approval. You can organize a meeting with clients and stockholders before handing over the website.
Also, you would need a system in place for getting feedback from all stakeholders. You can do so by:
- ⇒ Taking survey
- ⇒ Creating a video walkthrough of the design
- ⇒ Hosting a virtual or in-person meeting
- ⇒ Asking stakeholders for their comments/opinions in a document
Accept the feedback from your clients and try improvising it. You can also explain your part and make them know if you face any difficulties in achieving their expectations. Whatever, being honest and transparent avoids any unnecessary hiccups in the future.
♦ Website Launch and Further Improvements
As we all know, the website is not fully complete even after its launch. Clients or others want to improvise or do minor edits/changes somewhere. So, include this as a final step in your web design workflow. Yes, you will always need to enhance and improve your website.
Once the website is launched and starts collecting data live, you have to track analytics. That will give you a deeper insight into how the audiences behave on-site. Above all, you would need to update the website consistently. That means the web design workflow is an ongoing process.
Conclusion
Building a website is often a complicated and complex process that involves multiple teams. Yes, web designers, developers, marketing, and clients need to share and discuss ideas to build a well-functioning website.
Cross-functional collaboration is an ongoing process that continues throughout website development. Having an ideal web design workflow enables you to achieve the full potential of all your teams, including design, IT functions, and marketing. Also, it shows your expertise and authority to your clients. Thus, they will start seeing you as a credible business and soon begin with the website design project with you.
Follow the above-discussed tips and tricks to create the ideal web design workflow. These simple step-by-step processes will let your team unleash their full potential ensuring a competent website. If you have any queries regarding web design workflow or web design, reach our experts at Cypherox Technologies. They will help you figure out your web design workflow and assist you in any web design services.
