Comments on: Is Web Strategy more important than good Web Design? http://www.pemaquid.com/blog/is-web-strategy-more-important-than-good-web-design Tips on Web Design, Usability and Web Strategy from Portland, Maine Fri, 21 Nov 2008 01:59:13 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.0.5 by: Rob http://www.pemaquid.com/blog/is-web-strategy-more-important-than-good-web-design#comment-22 Tue, 22 May 2007 10:48:14 +0000 http://www.pemaquid.com/blog/is-web-strategy-more-important-than-good-web-design#comment-22 Design and strategy are two different things, and I'm suggesting a perfectly good strategy will fail without thoughtful design. Design means how something is put together. You wouldn't build a car w/a joystick instead of a steering wheel, to use an extreme example, because people wouldn't use it (or it wouldn't meet safety requirements). The same applies to Web sites. Strategic goals for design is one thing - understanding design principles and what works and _executing_ is another. Design and strategy are two different things, and I’m suggesting a perfectly good strategy will fail without thoughtful design.

Design means how something is put together. You wouldn’t build a car w/a joystick instead of a steering wheel, to use an extreme example, because people wouldn’t use it (or it wouldn’t meet safety requirements). The same applies to Web sites.

Strategic goals for design is one thing - understanding design principles and what works and _executing_ is another.

]]> by: daniel http://www.pemaquid.com/blog/is-web-strategy-more-important-than-good-web-design#comment-21 Mon, 21 May 2007 23:03:30 +0000 http://www.pemaquid.com/blog/is-web-strategy-more-important-than-good-web-design#comment-21 hi, Rob, how are you? A web strategy is more than just "let's get traffic" - though some organisations may misuse the term. Really I think a web strategy /is/ more important than web design, as it forms the guidelines for the design itself. Your web strategy should define the purpose/audience/goals/measures of the website itself & the place of the website in achieving the organisation's wider goals. Of course, if you're the only person involved in the website then your strategy may be entirely in your head. It is possible to start a design process before any strategy has been figured out, but then how do you know what the website is supposed to achieve? how can you make sure you've got the right content & - importantly - how can you design the website to put across that content in the best way possible? daniel hi, Rob, how are you?

A web strategy is more than just “let’s get traffic” - though some organisations may misuse the term. Really I think a web strategy /is/ more important than web design, as it forms the guidelines for the design itself.

Your web strategy should define the purpose/audience/goals/measures of the website itself & the place of the website in achieving the organisation’s wider goals. Of course, if you’re the only person involved in the website then your strategy may be entirely in your head.

It is possible to start a design process before any strategy has been figured out, but then how do you know what the website is supposed to achieve? how can you make sure you’ve got the right content & - importantly - how can you design the website to put across that content in the best way possible?

daniel

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