OVERVIEW

The goals of the analysis and planning phase are to:

• Analyze whether the project is a worthwhile endeavor.

• Determine the website requirements needed for a successful site.

• Create a workplan to accomplish the project.

This analysis is a crucial step. The success or failure of a website project often can be traced to this stage in development. Exploring and analyzing the proposed website in this phase can reveal many hidden issues you can address early, clearing the way for success.

WHY ANALYZE?

A good analysis will support and polish a good site idea and will reveal the flaws in a bad idea. In fact, if the analysis prevents a company from developing a poor website concept, the analysis must be judged successful. It has prevented the company from wasting precious resources, so they are available for more promising projects.

For example, a client proposed a website that was to be a directory for finding and hiring entertainers for elementary school presentations. The original concept was to include motion video, live booking of acts, and other data-intensive functions. Upon analysis we learned that most users had dial-up connections, which would not readily accommodate video over the Web, and that the costs of videotaping and digitizing so many performers would be a considerable investment. The live booking of acts would require communication with performers who often did not have e-mail, much less check it often enough to allow live bookings. Other features were also examined and found to be overly ambitious.