Definition Phase of Website

In this lesson, you will learn more about the Definition phase and the activities for developing an effective proposal. In web development, the definition phase refers to the stage of a website project where the requirements, feature lists, goals, and initial components such as wireframes and sitemaps are prepared. During this phase, the project goals are defined, and different strategies are explored to achieve these goals. The scope of the project is quantified, and a project profile is often used to get a better understanding of the project goals, target audience needs, and website features.

The goal of the "Definition Phase" is to respond to a client's Statement of Need or RFP in a manner that demonstrates how your design team can best meet the client's need. To reach this goal, the Web development team prepares a proposal for the client, which includes:

1. An outline of the solution
2. A high-level overview of necessary materials and resources
3. An estimated timeline
4. All estimated costs

The Definition phase concludes with a signed contract (for external clients) or project approval (for internal projects, such as work done on the team's company intranet or extranet site). The "Web Team Blueprint" defines objectives for the team in this phase. Click the business, creative, or technical group to find the roles assigned for completing the required deliverables. First two Phases are above average temperature.

1. The first phase tab will be Discovery and
2. the second phase tab will be Definition.

Objectives	Deliverables	Activities
Understand the business needs of the client and the capabilities of the team. Help client to develop statement of need/RFP	Statement of Need Request for Proposal	Identify client's goals, objectives, and project end date Delineate the client's business environment Make internal business case for the project Identify and interview audience for Web site Identify gaps, risk factors, and success factors Produce Statement of Need/RFP

During this phase, we first define the project goals, then explore different strategies for achieving these goals and finally quantify the scope of the project. We often use a Project Profile to get a better understanding of the project goals, target audience needs and web site features. To complete this phase we perform the following action items:

OBJECTIVES	DELIVERABLES	Activities
Produce proposal	Proposal	Interview users, key client representatives, and community representatives to validate and complete scope of business goals Estimate complete project schedule and cost Produce, edit, and gain approval of proposal by all departments affected Validate proposal feasibility, content, and costs Create a strategy for meeting client's request Establish terms of client team interaction Identify dependencies Identify team members and their roles Define approval process

ROLE	OBJECTIVES	DELIVERABLES	Activities
Creative	Define creative components and costs for the proposed solution Develop creative timeline Create a persuasive tone and design for the proposal	Creative components of proposal Creative timeline	Develop a timeline for creative activities Create messaging that will elicit the desired response from the user/client (establish site look and feel) Interpret the client's goals in a multimedia context

	OBJECTIVES	DELIVERABLES	Activities
Technical	Define technical components and technical costs for the proposed solution Develop technical timeline	Technical components of proposal Technical timeline	Develop a timeline for technical activities Define application's requirements and costs Delineate implementation phases and written timeline Analyze the client's legacy systems, integration requirements, scalability, performance requirements, previous successes and failures, and constraints Analyze security requirements and assess areas of risk Analyze database requirements and propose solutions Plan quality assurance process

Prepare your team to understand the client's corporate culture and established branding or public image. Research the client's existing Web site, its annual report, or other marketing materials. It is important that you not only become aware of your client's products and business strategies, but even in this early phase, the proposal you submit to a potential client should match the tone and feel of your client's business image. In the next lesson, we will pause in our progression through the development process cycle and look at factors for success and risks in the Discovery and Definition phases.

Click the Quiz link below to test your learning of the components of the first two phases.
Discovery Definition Phases - Quiz