OVERVIEW

Website development is an iterative process. Imagine yourself in a valley, gazing at the majestic peak of a nearby mountain that represents the successful completion of your website project. The distance might be only one mile as the crow flies. You may envision yourself steadily marching in workmanlike fashion right up to the top; however, once you start, you find that this is impossible, the angle is too steep, and no trails take such a route. Instead, the only way to the top is a winding trail 10 miles long that has many switchbacks. Although the trail steadily rises in elevation, sometimes you actually walk downhill. Eventually, however, you reach the top, but it takes longer than you thought.

So goes website development. If you could build the site exactly perfectly the first time, without any rework or modifications, it might only be a month-long project, but such a path does not exist. Multiple options, decisions, meetings, compromises, prototyping and reworking, changes in methods and production, testing and debugging, and more all intervene. The path you must take is not a straight line, but it is the only route. You need six months to reach the top, much longer than the one-month journey it appeared to be.

Advance planning is crucial; however, you should realize that you will need to make many decisions about how to reach the mountaintop when you re on the trail. Sitting in the valley cannot lend the perspective you will need to make those decisions.