Ecommerce and Information Technology Module 11: Establishing a Web design brief Show 1

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Ecommerce and Information Technology Module 11
Establishing a Web design brief Show 1
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Learning objectives

• Build an integrated Web design brief for an
  e-commerce website
• Identify the importance of planing a Web presence
• Analyse the importance of website design and
  navigation
• Compare and contrast search engines

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A web design brief

• A Web design brief is a set of specifications and
  requirements for the design of a website the
  instructions you might give to a Web developer
  although it is worth noting that, if you are
  dealing with an effective Web developer or Web
  development company it would be worthwhile to
  seek their ideas, feedback and potentially their
  active participation in the development of a Web
  design brief.

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Planning an online presence

• A web design brief will usually include coverage
  of
• 1 create and manage online content
• 2 host the content on the Internet
• 3 market the website and content
• 4 collect and record customer orders
• 5 process payments

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Strategic review and planning activity for
e-commerce start-up
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Common components of a Web design brief

• Project name
• Summary this is a short paragraph describing the
  project and its marketing requirements. It will
  summarise the purpose of the website. Why do you
  want a website? What is it meant to achieve over
  what period of time?
• About your organisation/company this is a chance
  to let the designer know more about your
  organisation or company its mission, overall
  aims objectives or products services.
• Explain the concept of the website in one or two
  sentences
• What is the target audience for the website?
  Customers, funders, sponsors, the general public
  or a niche market?
• What themes or images come to mind when you think
  about what your website will look like? If there
  are any images you have in mind or to hand, make
  sure to show those to the designer on
  presentation of the brief. Its always easier to
  show someone a mental image than to simply
  describe it in words.
• (Long-Murray, 20011)

• What are the main messages the site needs to get
  across to its audience?
• What kinds of illustrations/images will be used?
  Is there a series of photographs or designs that
  youd like to use in the development of the site?
  
• What kind of information will the site contain
  and where will that information come from? (If
  you dont have a site editor, nows a good time
  to start thinking about choosing one).
• Where will the website be hosted and how will it
  be accessed? Have you registered the URL for the
  site? How much space has been allocated for the
  site on the host server?
• Are there any existing websites you like the look
  or feel of? If so, you should include a list of
  just a few of these in your brief. This will give
  designers a better idea of your likes/dislikes.
• Who needs to review or approve the development of
  the site?
• What is the deadline date for project completion?
  
• What are the plans for further development of the
  site?
• Who is responsible for updating the website?

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Designing to attract and retain customers

• Planning (market research, target audience,
  content). All communication requires strategic
  planning what shall we communicate, to whom,
  when and how?
• Explanation and distinguishing features. One
  suggested weakness of Australian retailers when
  they are communicating online has been their
  failure to distinguish between improved
  information flow from the customers perspective
  and traditional communication for the purposes of
  the retailer. Little has been done to communicate
  why information and knowledge holds greater
  value, and hence its value, to the online
  customer.
• Outcomes and reasons. Most customers do not
  perceive the urgency to change the way they
  access and use the Web, so calls to improve would
  have little appeal to them. If retailers wish to
  attract and sell more goods and services
  online, then outcomes (results) that appeal to
  both retailers and more especially the customers
  needs and preferences must be set.

• Directions. Simple directions of what to do or
  where to start must be provided. To implement
  online sales and service strategies an
  organisation must provide a logical way for the
  first time visitor to an online presence to
  secure directions, sort current information needs
  and immediately be engaged in the service
  exchange.
• Distribution. There is a huge range of sources
  for the identification, capture and transferral
  of information relevant to the online customer
  (see previous sections). Knowledge of where to
  find more information (where to source or
  purchase books, pamphlets, research reports, best
  practice, catalogues, etc.) must be communicated.
• Cognitive appeal. Like many service exchanges,
  online retail Web presence strategies are aimed
  at too broad a market. In attempting to appeal to
  a broad range of cognitive capacities (thinking,
  experience and mental models), translation of
  information into actionable knowledge fails to
  appeal to the target customer group.
  Communication of actionable information must be
  pitched to identifiable needs within the
  different market segments and customer groups.

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Critical user considerations

• Speed of loading
• Customers with disabilities (especially
  blindness) may not be able to read the site
• Profile of the audience (Flash will not appeal to
  some demographics)
• Judicious use (you can go use too much of a good
  thing)

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Learn from your competitors

• Learn from your current competitors- Your current
  competitors will probably already be using some
  online strategies. You can learn about the
  customers these businesses are targeting and
  evaluate how your businesss electronic
  strategies might be able to match, differentiate
  from or surpass their efforts.
• Learn from businesses like yours - Regard it as
  guaranteed there are businesses like yours that
  already have well-established electronic sales
  strategies and Web presences. They may deal with
  slightly different products or be in another
  country, but they are already doing what you need
  to do and theyre doing it better than your
  competitors. Find them and learn as much as you
  can.
• What are your target customers doing online? -
  Imagine you want to buy goods of the type your
  business sells. Try to find out where you could
  go to buy the product online. Try to find product
  reviews, testimonials, media comments, newsgroups
  and special interest websites. Other than
  visiting a business website selling the products,
  how would a potential customer find out about the
  types of products you sell?

• Be the customer! - It might sound like a comment
  from Zen Buddhism or some form of martial arts,
  but this is a valuable way to gain useful
  insights for your electronic sales strategy. Try
  buying something online that you need for your
  home or business. Perhaps spend a little time at
  different sites trying to find the cheapest or
  best product you want. It can be easy to find
  websites that are poorly designed, incomplete,
  dont work or otherwise seem to be designed for
  customer frustration. There are also stand-out
  examples of effective design which can be
  goldmines of ideas for your own online sales
  strategy.
• Technology processes/ sales process issues - As
  your ideas on an electronic sales strategy become
  more refined, try searching for sites that use
  the types of electronic sales processes that you
  plan to use. Investigate how these work (or dont
  work) and incorporate the lessons into your
  electronic sales strategy.

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Specific comparative considerations

• Approaches that seem useful or valuable, with
  particular regard to website navigation, customer
  interaction and feedback, ease of use, and visual
  design
• What are these businesses doing (and just as
  significantly, not doing) in the online services
  they provide?
• What non-sales information is provided? (How) is
  this likely to add value for customers?
• Is the website organised to attract different
  market segments towards different information,
  products and services? how?

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Wider considerations

• Security
• Privacy
• Search engines
• Location on the web (URL)

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What makes a happy online user?

• SimplicityThe goal is to simplify everything
  that users see or touch and to make their lives
  easier and more rewarding in every aspect of
  their engagement.
• CostsCosts can be dramatically reduced by
  creating designs that are driven by users, market
  and business expectations. There must be an
  unrelenting focus on fulfilling these demands.
• ReturnMarket perception and customer loyalty can
  be dramatically influenced by a rewarding
  experience. This strengthens commitment, image
  and provides a return on your investment.
• InvestmentSimplifying users lives reduces your
  costs and directly enhances the bottom line. User
  engineering should be treated as a normal
  business investment that derives a good return.
• MetricsTo truly delight your users, you must
  measure their satisfaction at every touch point
  to your business, and make improvements where
  required. Targets must be established and pursued
  vigorously, especially against competition.
  (IBM, 2004)

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AcademyInternet 18 website usability heuristics

• Heuristic 1 System status visibility
• Heuristic 2 Matching the website to the real
  world
• Heuristic 3 Follow real-world conventions
• Heuristic 4 Provide user control and freedom
• Heuristic 5 Consistency and standards
• Heuristic 6 Preventing errors
• Heuristic 7 Help users recognise and recover
  from errors
• Heuristic 8 Recognition is preferable to recall
• Heuristic 9 Flexibility and efficiency of use

• Heuristic 10 Aesthetic and minimalist design
• Heuristic 11 Help and documentation
• Heuristic 12 Chunking
• Heuristic 13 Inverted pyramid writing style
• Heuristic 14 Location of critical information
• Heuristic 15 Gratuitous use of new features
• Heuristic 16 Making pages scannable
• Heuristic 17 Minimizing download and response
  times
• Heuristic 18 Ensuring maximum user access

(AcademyInternet , 2004, http//www.useit.com/pape
rs/heuristic/heuristic_list.html)
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Major E-commerce mistakes made by small business
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Designing the Web presence to add value
(Quidnunc, 1998)
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General rules for managing online content

• consider what type of content needs to be managed
  in the agency
• review how content is currently managed and the
  adequacy of these processes
• consider whether existing processes will be
  adequate in the foreseeable future
• evaluate the particular challenges the agency may
  have in managing content
• ensure that the agency has clearly documented and
  up-to-date processes for managing all types of
  Web content
• consider the challenges in managing Intranets
• identify information and services to be provided
  on the website
• determine end-user information needs
• allocate roles and responsibilities

• maintain a list of content owners
• focus on establishing viable content management
  processes
• assist content creators to create suitable
  resources for online delivery
• establish testing processes
• review and remove or amend website content as
  necessary
• meet archiving and storage requirements
• assess and manage any legal implications of
  website content
• track content approval
• manage user feedback regarding the website and
  other online customer services
• select appropriate content management tools