Initiation

One simple way in which to approach we design is to start with the finished product. What we mean here is the visualisation of what sort of site you want, what it should do, what sort of customers you want to attract and what you want them to do once they are there.

This kinds of reverse engineered process can pay great dividends to the construction process as initially you are keen to identify the desired outcome of your website’s visitors. Do you want them to request further information or fill in a form; you may wish them to request a call back, buy a ticket or just add to basket and checkout.
What you want at the end of the long journey in enticing, attracting and converting is this. You must ensure that the prospective customer is directed through the use of familiar, accessible and direct website design to this end goal.

This will allow us to have an idea of the basic skeleton of the site or site map as it is called.

When the site map has been agreed upon the next stage is Information Architecture. This process allows all parties to agree upon the content to go on each page and how it will be laid out. Here UX best practices are applied to the IA so that proven formulas are used which will maximise conversions and decrease the likelihood of high bounce rates.