Defining a Site

Identify Your User

See how an expert starts Building a Site from the Ground Up Questions to Ask about a Site	Every site has its purpose sell clothes allow virtual access to a museum amuse
Before you start developing, establish a mission that will motivate you and provide focus throughout development.
Determine purpose & objectives (entertainment, information, promote an organization or your own personal cause, deliver news, etc.) Example: "Our Web site will reduce administrative costs by providing an online newsletter. It will also offer online memberships and bookstore."
Identify Your Audience Exercise: Who is the audience? Political site Environmental Site Portal sites -- Yahoo! Retail 1 Retail 2 Who will be interested in your site? -- The answer will impact your design, content, and services. What are some common characteristics of this audience? -- education levels, experience with the Internet, tastes & sense of humor, length of each visit What is your target age range? -- To determine color scheme, font size, and use of language. Exercise: What features would distract/ please the two audiences? AARP Planet of the Apes Where will users most likely access the site from? -- Why is this important?	Brainstorming -- Helpful guide Why are you building the Web site? What's your mission? Who is your target audience? What value will you provide your audience? What niche will your site fill? What will be the user's mission while at your site, and what do you want them to accomplish at your site? What will keep users coming back to your site? How will you measure the success of the site? Questions to ask Write out your questions and answers and try to connect each goal with a specific task. For example, "Our audienceconsists of the visitors to the Placerita Canyon Nature Preserve. We will add value to their experience by providing them with e-mail reminders of our Moonlight Hikes one week before the event."
On-going Research -- www.websidestory.com -- capture user trends