Steps When Designing a Site
User centered design is at the heart of this methodology of website design. The following is a step by step guide to creating a web site with the user centered methodology kept in mind.
Step one:
This first step of any website coding is content creation. Before any code is typed, the creator must have a basic understanding of what their topic is and what they want to write about. Special attention must be paid to the user and the rhetoric of the site.
Step Two:
The basic elements of the HTML should be started.
This gives the creator a place to put the content of the site into.
Step three:
While there is not too much content, the initial development of the css should begin. This is where the creator should begin to consider the elemets of css they are interested in using. However, no design elements should be make concrete.
Step four:
Now is the time to create the content for the main body portions of the website. Once the content is all put together, then the design and layout of that content can be considered. Attention should be paid to the user and how you want the user ot receive the content. This is when the web site architecture should begin to be considered. The creator should begin to think about which type of structure will be the most effective in their specidic website.
Step five:
Now begin to organize the content. There is no final styling and colors going on yet. The structure of the web pages is being developed. This means that the menu bar, header, colums, and footer should be created at this point. However, the final design elements should not be plaid around with yet.
Step six:
Again, keeping in mind the user, the image selection and final design elements should begin to take shape. The content should be a way to guide this transformation. The content should be malleable enough that it can be changes to fit the design, and the design should be malleable enough to fit the content.
Step seven:
once one web page is created, the website architecture should be finalized, and the other additional websites should begin to take shape. The usability of the architecture chosen, and the design of the site should be on the creator's mind at all points in this stage. The web site must be inviting and operate effectively.
Step eight:
The next step is to create the content for the remaining pages of the web site. Attention should be paid to the content of the page and the overall design theme of the web site should be reflected in the pages. For some pages, the content of the site will allow for the same css stylesheet to be used from a different page on the website.
With adherence to these steps and the five planes, the creator should have a website that is stable, engaging, and user friendly.
