THE PROCESS

Stage Two: Design

Design has several meanings when it comes to Web development. There's the obvious look and feel of the site as it pertains to layout and brand identity, but with Web design, there's an equally important task known as content design or information architecture. This carries the visual design aspects over to how information is designed on a page and how it relates to other pages/sections of the site. This is a key requirement to a successful Web site, one that assures the end user can find the right inforamation in a logical manner. Our goal as information architects is to create a user experience that captures interest, communicates the major marketing points, sets the tone, and allows information to be logically and easily found throughout the site. A good design will keep your audience focused on your marketing message, which is even more critical online than with traditional media, for a competitor's Website is just seconds away.

Design concepts are presented in a static form, with each design shown as a home and inside page comp. Some larger sites may have other pages shown in each design, like an administrative or special product page. The overall goal of the design agency is to show the client a complete visual representation of each design concept. If new marketing copy is needed, it's often presented along with the comps. The number of designs can vary based on project size and budget, but three is the average.

A growing trend is to design Web sites for search engine optimization, or SEO. There are two schools of thought on this subject, the first involves developing a Website's design strictly for Web search engine rankings. This involves simplistic looking Web sites with copy written specifically to repeat key words and minimize images. While this may increase the site’s Google ranking for the moment, there’s the often forgotten issue of how the user reacts when landing on the home page. Having the top Google ranking doesn't mean much if your users are greeted with generic design and copy written for search engines instead of a solid marketing message.

At Dragonfly, the importance of the user experience is our first priority. When a user comes to a client's site, there is immediate recognition of a professional company with a legitimate product or service. The purpose, content and direction of the site is clear. Despite the SEO trend, our method of building sites for ease of usability has allowed our clients to market well, increase page views, and retain users while sustaining respectable search engine results. Need proof? Just do a Google search for "Princeton Web site design" and see who's ranked #1 and 2.

Next Page >> Stage 3 - Production