The Project Profile has been developed to address most business issues that effect the development of a project. It also addresses communication issues between the Client and their team, the Client and Project Manager, and the Project Manager and Development team.
The documentation of these business and communications items addresses the primary challenge of most projects; "I didn't know." The logic follows; If it is documented you will not forget. If you share the documents, everyone will know. If everyone approves, you cannot make a mistake. Now, change happens, but it will now happen because the group made a conscious decision.
The next sections presents the elements of the Project Profile, and a brief description of each to help you understand not only what we address, but why.
Project Overview
URL: This is the web address of the web site being developed. When selecting an URL (if this is an option) select something memorable, or with easy recall. Don't make it hard for your customers to buy, and don't assume everyone knows what it is.
Client: This is the company or individual who is ultimately in charge of the project. Although everyone should know who this is, third parties brought in after the project has begun may not be aware.
Version: This document will change as the project continues. A version number lets everyone know that they have the most current information.
Date: The date, like the version number, lets everyone know that they have the latest information.
Project Manager: This is the person responsible for directing the resources of the project, who answers questions and makes decisions. If this isn't you, know how to get in touch when you need them.
Team Members: This is the team (Client, Consultants, etc.) that works together to complete the project. By including names, titles, phone, e-mail, etc each person has access to all team members. This feature promotes proactive, independent communication and expedites tasks.
Background: Don't assume everyone knows what this project is all about. Sometimes team members are only privy to portions of the project, thus giving them only a part of the picture. If all members know what the history of a project is it gives them an equal foundation to move forward.
Goals: Goals are why a project exists; something must be accomplished. By establishing the goals here we know how to evaluate the work we do. We ask ourselves at every decision point; does this solution move the project closer to, or farther from the goals?
Schedule: If there is no deadline the project will take twice as long as if a deadline is established. It's okay to alter a schedule as things change, but a published schedule will keep all team members focused through the completion of the project. The perception is that everyone else is doing his or her part, and the individual feels that he/she must do his or her. Ultimately, the project moves through development into completion.
Budget: As with the schedule, if there really is no budget one should be developed anyway. If not, the project has the opportunity to become a money pit; more time than you expected, the addition of last minute photos, 25 more pages than were initially planned, etc. These all add up, and someone is going to have to pay for them. A fixed budget helps maintain a controlled investment.
Reference
Competitors URL's: We learn a great deal by looking at the competition. We learn who the players are, where the bar has been set, and what has already been done. More importantly, we learn what NOT to do. Remember, every successful offensive begins with reconnaissance on the enemy - strengths, weaknesses, vulnerabilities, etc.
Sample URL's: More than likely, you are not the first person to have to handle this type of project. Find examples of similar projects, technologies in use, techniques, etc. to guide yourself and team members through development and implementation.
<title>ProjectProfile</title>
"What if there was a way that you could facilitate collaboration between Clients and Developers throughout your web site project development with a single document?"
User Profile Although you may think a user is a user, each user will come with their own skill set, preferences and expectations. By profiling the demographics and psychographics of each user group you can better prepare information, navigation and presentation to suit their specifics.
Title(s): Are you targeting the CEO of the company or the Secretary? The title gives you insight into the focus, expectation and process of your audience.
Age: How young are your youngest users, and how old are your oldest? As much as stereotypes are not always accurate, this will help make some basic strategic decisions, i.e. social references, type size, language.
Gender: Is the target primarily Male, or Female, or a percentage of both? Since the stimulus for each is very different this figures into the equation to determine what is appropriate language, visuals, comparisons, etc.
Education: How educated is your target User? By determining the age range you can insure content and concepts are appropriate.
Computer Experience: How much computer experience does your User have? Is you user a "power" user who expects shortcuts or are they a novice (i.e. Novices are not comfortable downloading and installing non-standard plug-ins).
Knowledgebase: How much does the target User already know about this product or service? Are there expectations given their knowledge level?.
Geographic Location: The physical location of users can have an impact on decisions for this project. Language from South to North can be very different, as well as traditional media investments (tv, radio, print, outdoor) to drive traffic to the site.
Frequency: Learn when and how often the user will access the site. This helps you discuss things like "Does a single use merit a registration process?"
Environment: The user environment, where the computer is when the access the site, can enable or disable certain attributes of a site and its content. Certain aspects of function or content may be effected by light, sound, privacy, etc.
Technology: Although we cannot plan for every instance of use, we can take into consideration the probable hardware and software our target users will employ to access the site. This information will dictate the size of graphics, quantity of information delivered, type of transactions, exchanges between the user and site, etc.
Psychographics: What is the mindset of your target User? How do they feel about this type of product or service? What will motivate them to buy? What types of things are they thinking that have an impact on what you are developing?
Content Detail There are two types of content; the kind you have and the kind you need.
Have/Format: Existing information and materials can be re-purposed for use in a web site. Copy from a print ad, pictures from a catalog, the Presidents picture from the annual report, etc. Detailing these items let's you know the resources you have available for use and assists in their application within the project.
Need/Format: Different types of materials and resources take different amounts of time and money to develop. By planning ahead of time what must be developed, we can plan budgets and schedules to accommodate. A short bit of copy may be written on the fly, whereas new product photos that don't exist could take weeks and cost thousands of dollars, making a big impact on any project.
Software Standards: Sharing files and information between Client, a Project Manager and members of the Development Team can be challenging if software standards are not managed. "Send me a picture" means different things to different people. "A copy of the brochure" could mean literally a photo-copy or a disk with an electronic file.
Information Structure Define Site Outline: The first step in structuring the project information is to sort through the mass or material making initial "piles" according to similarity in subject and relevance. This isn't rocket science and it isn't set in stone, so don't make it either. The piles will change and materials will be shifted a number of times. Be patient – the piles will settle down as the team becomes more familiar with the material. Also, think process. What order should the user receive the information? In what order would things come if you were face to face? If you were in a retail store?
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