Once upon a time ago, I was asked to design a site that would appear " classy,
quality." Okay, I know what classy and quality mean; I used to
be an English major. I worked up several different treatments based
on my perception of these words. The site owner hated them all. Tried
again, making the designs even more formal, elegant and understated.
He hated the new ones even more. Finally -- yes, I was a rank beginner
at that point, and didn't yet insist that prospective clients fully
complete my Site Planner before I begin
any work -- I asked him to send me the URLs (addresses) of sites that
were similar in some ways to what he had in mind. This was, literally,
an eye-opener.
I'd have described these same sites as "jazzy and bright." (Well,
truthfully, my description would have been "garish and blinding" --
but I'm trying to be objective here.) Once I had a visual reference
for what the owner meant by the phrase, it was simple to work up a
new treatment -- and it was immediately approved. Lesson learned.
Since descriptive words can have such subjective and wildly differing
interpretations, it's best to use very concrete examples to communicate
your visual preferences to your designer. Conduct a little Field Trip,
browsing the Web to find sites that correspond in one way or another
to aspects of your own site. Then send a list of at least 5-10
URLs to your designer. The more references the better. Try also to
say a few words about your reasons for selecting each one.
Don't try to locate sites that represent everything you want
in your own site. Instead, indicate that Site A has colors you like,
Site B uses a navigation scheme you think is effective, etc. Find sites
that are similar to the one you want in some of the following ways:
- Target audience
- "Tone" (for example: Friendly or formal? Corporate or
personal? Traditional or cutting-edge?)
- Functionality (some possibilities: online selling, site-wide search,
multiple languages, chat, bulletin board, contact forms, etc.)
- Color scheme
- Page layout
- Navigation scheme (how the various areas of the site are accessed)
- Balance of text and images
It's also helpful to show your designer:
- Competitors' sites
- Any sites that strongly appeal to you, for whatever reason
- Sites you dislike
The resulting list of model sites can be said to comprise the "wish
list" for your site. Bear in mind, however, that the actual treatment
your designer comes up with must be grounded in reality. If your list
features a shopping cart like Amazon's,
Flash animations such as those found on the Nike site,
and dozens of high-quality photographs, realize that your budget will
affect how -- or if -- similar elements are incorporated into your
site. Consider the list a jumping off point for further communication
and refinement.
Getting back to the "garish and blinding" site referred
to earlier: The fact that the Field Trip examples, and the site I ultimately
designed, don't conform to my personal taste isn't an issue. As it
happens, the site owner actually had a very good understanding of his
target audience and chose examples that would appeal to them.
His visual perceptions were sound, even if the words he chose to represent
them didn't convey them to me. Had I tried to foist my interpretation
of "classy" and "quality" on him, his visitors
probably would have dismissed the site -- and so his company -- as: " Fancy-shmancy,
out of my price range."
How would I guess his targeted visitors would describe the site that
finally launched? Probably something along the lines of "Lively,
modern. Looks like his services would be affordable." Just what
that owner needed.
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