The roles that you will learn about in this lesson are high-level categories for more specific jobs.
Web site development typically requires leveraging the knowledge and skills of multiple individuals working together as a Web development team. Individual team members may be required to assume various roles at different times during the phases of a project life cycle.
Roles may be tied to job titles, but job titles vary from organization to organization. This lesson focuses on the role an individual plays rather than a specific job title.
Each role category is broken down into several different job titles, depending on the company. Keep in mind that one individual may perform more than one role on a Web development team. Alternately, more than one individual may play the same role. Typically, each role performs several tasks and is involved in more than one phase.

The role categories presented in this course are the following:

1. Business
2. Creative
3. Technical

In each phase, some roles are primary, whereas others are supporting or peripheral roles. Primary roles involve leadership, decision making, and development. Supporting roles assist the primary role. Peripheral roles may be involved in minor ways, or may be waiting for an aspect of the phase to be completed before taking a stronger role. For example, in the Discovery phase, business assumes a primary role, while creative is in a peripheral role. The roles and how they relate to the Web Interaction Model are depicted in the following MouseOver:

These are the roles, but who are the people who get the jobs done? To help you conceptualize the members of a Web design team, the following company blueprint provides a virtual tour of a Web design company. Click the desk of a WebTeam member to begin your exploration of their workspace. You will gain insight into the technical background and specific project assignments as you move your cursor around each member's workspace.
These roles and job categories focus on tasks rather than specific job titles. These are broad categories, however, and responsibility areas vary from company to company and project to project. Depending on the organization and the project, additional roles may be involved. They may include director of marketing, editor, quality assurance specialist, media designer, or vice president of sales.

Question: If it's so important to follow preexisting models and systems, why is there so much variation in job titles and distribution of responsibilities from team to team and project to project?
Answer: There are many reasons for variation. Job titles may be different at different companies. Responsibilities may be assigned based on team members' experience and knowledge base rather than their specific job titles.
Also, a larger project may employ more people, with more specialized areas of expertise and corresponding job titles. Allocation of specific tasks may also depend on the whims of a manager or assessment of who has more time in their schedule at a given time.
The next lesson will teach you how objectives and deliverables help to organize the team design process.