PLANNING A WEB SITE

Determining Your Site’s Purpose

PURPOSE Identify the Audience (WHO) WHAT and WHY will they use the site

PURPOSE The purpose comes from:

Users’ reasons for visiting the siteOrganization’s reasons for publishing the

site

The purpose reflects the organization’s needs and customer’s interests.

This is WHY the site is being published and WHAT to include.

EXAMPLE Back to LeftyStuff Web site:

The purpose: Increase direct online sales of high-end tennis

racquets by 30% over the next three quarters. The site will display six key items from the

racquet line Two types of color photos: Racquets alone and

racquets being held by lefties Make it easy to find the racquets Make it easy to pay online with a credit card Communicate the mission of LeftyStuff Corp

(products for lefties)

DEFINING SITE’S FUNCTIONS User verbs (action words) to define the

site’s functions

So for LeftyStuff: INCREASE salesDISPLAY itemsFIND the racquetPURCHASE the racquetCOMMUNICATE the mission

CAN YOU STATE THE PURPOSE? Look at the following sites – how would

you state the purpose?

The Financial Times J. Crew

Use your VERBS to define the site functions.

GOALS AND OBJECTIVES Purpose statements should include both

goals and objectives.GOALS: the desired long-term results

To increase direct online sales of tennis racquets by 30%

OBJECTIVES: specific means and methods used to accomplish the goals; generally stated in user-centered terms. To provide online readers of the newspaper with

hourly updates of key news stories.

GOALS AND OBJECTIVES Both kinds of statements are critical for

site planning.

Goals keep you focused on the larger purposes of the organization

Objectives set forth specific and measureable features that the site must include.

ORGANIZATIONS AND USER PURPOSES A good statement of a Web site’s

purpose will include both user-centered and organization-centered goals and objectives.

They may also include technology-centered statements of purpose (if that’s the product or service).

EVALUATING SUCCESS How will you know whether your Web

site is a success? How will you measure its effectiveness?

After it’s been published and folks are using it, then it’s time to evaluate.List each purpose and determine whether or

not it’s been accomplished. Yes, success. No, reevaluate and change.

ASSIGNMENT Put your thinking hats on! Think of a website you’d like to design.

What is the purpose of your site? Include broad goals and specific objectives.Speak to the goals of the company and the

customers. Include enough detail to assist in planning

the site’s structure and in evaluating its success.

Submit this into the dropbox provided in Week 2.