"We were looking for a LOGO that is "distinct" and best reflects the image of our firm and what we do. As an emerging business, we have worked very hard to get where we are at and while our journey is still at the dawn stage we are trying to develop an image of being able to deliver what we say we can. Corporate image is important to our operations. Logic created the LOGO that we need. It was a pleasure working with them and we will definitely give them a referral."
RJ of SM&AG
RJ of SM&AG
Articles
Getting The Most From Web Designers, Ask for a Prototype!
You have plans for a new on-line business; you are excited by the prospects and eager to get started. Just one thing is getting in your way – your web designer!
Anyone that wants a web site needs to ensure the web designer fully understand what is required. But sometimes the person who is paying for the site is not 100% sure what is needed or what is feasible.
So there are times when there is a gap in the understanding and requirements. How do we fill this gap and ensure success? The answer is to prototype it!
A prototype can be viewed in two ways. One is the look and feel, the creative flair, the colours, images, the layout, inventive use of graphics and images. The other relates to what the site does, its function or business process.
Most of the time a look and feel prototype will be like an artist’s impression of a new house. The designer will research your needs, your likes and dislikes, the nature of your business or the purpose of your web site. Using these as inputs the designer will brainstorm design concepts and some designers will create a sketch on paper. When the ideas are flowing the designer creates a static electronic image using Photoshop showing a realistic impression of the site.
A moment of truth comes when the illustration is revealed to the customer. Will the customer be impressed or depressed. If the designer has done his or her homework and used lots of creativity then the customer will most likely be pleased. Even with excellent designers it is common for customers to request changes and it is essential that the customer is allowed to make revisions at this stage.
The next critical stage is making a wireframe prototype but what is a wireframe? A wireframe is a web page version of your site that demonstrates what pages and functions are available.
The wireframe is not concerned with the look and feel. Let’s imagine an example for a hotel booking service. One step in the process is checking the availability of rooms. This entails entering a start date and an end date, room type, number of guests etc. Now this process can be written down in a specification or it can be represented in a wireframe. So a wireframe is a web based version of your site that only represents the functions but does not actually work!
Many web designers use wireframes as a way of documenting the required functions. The great benefit is that the paying customer can see the representation of the site in terms of its functions and provide essential feedback before any detailed programming or web design has started.
The advantage of getting feedback based on a wireframe is that the designer and customer will both have a very clear knowledge and understanding of what the requirements are. This saves time because, as a project progresses, the more time consuming changes take. If process and understanding issues can be resolved before development then the site will be available sooner and be more reliable.
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