 |
|||||||||||
|
|||||||||||
The Importance of Purpose |
||||||
|
Knowing the core purposes of your web site is an important factor in making it a success. Sites built with no clear definition of purpose may suffer from a variety of maladies. "Start at the beginning" sounds like very obvious advice for almost any situation, but is an idea that is frequently ignored in web design. Of course, part of the problem lies in understanding exactly what really is the beginning. It's easy to get wrapped up in technology decisions, resource identification, project planning and the like and completely skip one of the most important steps in building or updating a web site: identifying the core purposes of the site. This is understandable. Web sites get their start in a variety of ways. Some begin as pet projects to learn some aspect of web authoring. In business, web sites (including intranet sites) are established just because that is what the competition is doing. For those actually doing much of the work on a site, the best reason they can give is often simply that their manager has told them that a site must be created. So why worry about the core purposes of a web site? Well, if you are building a site for business (including intranet sites) the most obvious answer is that it is simply applying generally accepted principles of management. Projects that consume resources are justified and checked for alignment with overall business priorities. If a strong enough case can be made, the project is undertaken with an understanding of the desired outcomes. Unfortunately, fascination with web technology has sometimes lead to less than thorough examination of expected results, leading to projects with vaguely defined goals and little clear direction. Another reason to understand the core purposes of the site is to have a basis for making the many decisions that are encountered during the development of a site. What links should be prominently displayed? Will CGI applications be needed? What should be the maximum page load time? Many fairly detailed questions can be much more easily answered if the core purposes of the site are known. Take for instance use of large graphic images. Usability experts generally agree that faster page load times are a good thing, making large graphic images something to be avoided. But if the purpose of a site is to sell photography services, large images may be necessary to impress potential clients with the clarity and detail of past work. There is no one-size-fits-all approach to web sites. But the most important reason for understanding the core purposes of your web site is to insure that you are meeting the needs of your target audience. "Wait a minute," you are probably thinking, "I don't even have a target audience." The truth is you probably do. If you believe that someone is eventually going to visit your site, they are your target audience. Your target audience may be the entire English speaking world or just your cousins and college roommate. No matter who they are, you will want them to be able to do certain things. After all, do you want your cousins to spend the entire family reunion complaining that they couldn't find anything on your web site? If you've read this far, you may be starting to wonder how to go about formulating or discovering the core purposes of your site. I wish there were a formula. The only approach I can recommend is to figure out how the site makes something better for someone. Decide how you want it to offer value. Identify the outcomes that are most important. For example, the core purposes of this site are:
When formulating the core purposes, there are a couple of common traps. The first is to get wrapped up in Management by Objective philosophy and insist that the statements of core purpose be measurable. This usually results in some statement about increasing page hits or winning an award. These may be fine ideas, but not really what the site is all about. Another trap is to end up crafting a Mission Statement, like, "To leverage our knowledge by gaining synergies through the exchange of mission critical information and bold, fresh ideas." If you want, you can have a Mission Statement. Just make sure that everyone working on the site understands that it is distinct from the core purposes of the site. Last of all, remember that it is never too late to correct this oversight. Defining the core purposes of an existing site may lead to interesting discoveries of less than optimal design elements, unnecessary content areas, and wasted effort. But, it can lead to a greatly improved web site if the core purposes are used to guide effort during the next site redesign. If your site is typical, that redesign is happening right now. |
|
|||||
|
|
