DesignWorks Studio | Graphic Design | Web Design | Eugene, Oregon

Compelling and innovative graphic design solutions

1-2-3-4The Web Design Process: 4 Steps

Step 1: Initial consultation

We do a one-hour initial consultation at no charge. Over the course of our conversation we’ll help you define the project more fully. The consultation is a brainstorming session where we go through the questions below and discuss your needs in depth. If you need more time to develop the concept for your site, additional consultations are available at the regular hourly rate. Sometimes it takes more time to research and plan before settling on your site features. This initial process is exploratory on both sides. You are under no obligation to accept the proposal and we are under no obligation to do the work.

Here's some of the questions we'll be answering at our first meeting:

1. Is this a new site or a redesign?

2. Do you need a new domain name?

3. Do you need a new domain host?

4. Do you have a deadline for site launch?

5. Who will be maintaining the site? How often will updates be needed?

6. What is your budget?

7. What is the nature of your business?

8. What is the main purpose of site? What do you hope to accomplish?

9. Who is your target audience? Do they use newer computers?

10. About how many pages do you expect your site to have?

11. Do you plan on selling items on the site? If so, how many products? Do you plan on taking credit card payment online? If so, do you already have a process for this?

12. Do you have an official corporate image/logo? If so, do you have access to the native files from the original designer?

13. Do you have photos to use on the web site? Do they need to be scanned/adjusted? Do you need help finding images?

14. Who is writing and typing the text?

15. Have you considered adding any value-added content? (free information to keep people coming back to the site.)

16. Please provide examples of sites that you like/dislike (not necessarily in your field).

17. What other functionality does the site need? Here are some options to consider:
      • forms
      • guestbook
      • discussion board
      • shopping cart
      • e-calendar
      • e-newsletter
      • blog
      • search function
      • rotating ads or animations
      • music or sound effects
      • quizzes, surveys, or voting

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Step 2: Proposal and deposit

Once you give us the go-ahead to proceed with the work, we'll develop your ideas into a more detailed plan and provide you with a budget estimate. If the estimate is under $500, we will request a 50% deposit. If the estimate is over $500, we will request a 35% deposit. If you need to have us arrange for the purchase of a domain name and a hosting account, or any other ancillary services, that will also need to be paid in advance.

Under constructionStep 3: Site development and content creation

It's time to get down to work. During this phase of the process, we not only determine the look of the site, but also its architecture and its navigation. Developing easy-to-understand site navigation is crucial to good web design.

You will need to provide us with all the text and images, unless we have agreed otherwise. It is a good idea for you to get your content ready as early as possible in the process, as quite often the content drives the design. We can develop content for you, but it may not be included in our original agreement and is something we should discuss.

We will load a prototype of the site onto our testing server so that you can see the site as it’s being developed. You will be given the opportunity to make revisions to this initial mockup before it is rendered into a template which will be used to create the rest of your pages. Once the initial design is approved by you, and if the original estimate was more than $500, the second third of the fee is due.

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Step 4: Site completion and launch

We will create the rest of the web site based on the approved mockup. If there’s any content you have not yet provided to us . . . NOW’s the time!

You will have a chance to preview and proof the entire site while it is still up on our testing server. Once the site is complete, you will be given the opportunity to go through it and prepare a “punch” list noting any errors or omissions that need to be corrected. This is not the time to make major changes to the "look" of the site.

Before your site goes live it undergoes extensive testing and revising. We pay special attention to best practices and web standards. Building sites that are coded cleanly and which work on various operating systems and browsers (Internet rovket launchExplorer, Safari, Netscape, Opera, Firefox, Mozilla, etc.) is a high priority.

When we're both satisfied that the site is in the best shape we can make it, we invoice the remainder of the fee.

Then it gets transferred to your web host and goes live to the world!