Here are three simple Web design principles that should be applied to any site development project:

User Experience Study
Conduct a User Experience Study. This will divide your user base into each type of key constituent according to the types and priorities of the things they want to accomplish on your site. For members, prospective members, and other associated networks and groups it lists the information they seek and the elements of the brand value they want to experience at each stage. For instance, if they are looking for external resources on a topic, do they perceive fairness in the selection of links or pointers? Do they find the opinions of their peers present when evaluating your services or products? During interaction with your brand, did the environment you provided help them feel at ease? Did the navigation guide them quickly and directly to their destination? Were they provided alternatives? Is follow-up personalized to their interests? Lastly, how are they passing along their experiences and opinions?

Putting these into action will take the form a Persona creation, the site Persona’s will articulate the site stakeholders, desired actions, reasons for being on the site and give your team clear direction of the entry points on the sitemap for unique site visitors.

Information Architecture & Wireframing
Only after a proper user experience study can the layout and navigation structure of the site begin. This should start not with colors, logos, and pictures, but with the layout of most basic divisions of visual real-estate in grayscale. This helps design stakeholders focus first on functionality – making sure that the customer is served – and aesthetics second.  The importance of this should not be underestimated. Everyone has their own sensibilities when it comes to style, but there should be greater unanimity when satisfying navigational logic and message placement. Can each type of visitor quickly identify where to go? Can they move around the navigation intuitively? Is what they see consistent with their profile?

Skipping this step is one of the most oft-cited reasons for organizational disagreement and discontent during Web site design.

Technology Roadmap
Coming up with Web site design ideas is one thing, mapping it to a technology roadmap and functional requirements will really help determine the level of effort and scope associated with an enterprise level Web site re-design. Gaining a full understanding of the connection points, usage of content management tools, connections to your association management system and related connective tissue of your Web site up front will give you the plan you need to get the site designed, built, and deployed. This phase will help you determine “build vs. buy” for many of your desired features and determine what items can be phased in and what are mission critical for the launch.  For every hour of design allocate one day of development effort. This  simple gauge will help you determine how involved each feature and request will be on the final build schedule and budget.

Summary
The 3 steps listed above will help set up your association for success in its Internet strategy. The more front end work done will ensure a successful and future-proof project.

In a recent project for the National Aquarium R2i had the opportunity to build out a socially engineered micro-site for the new Jellies Invasion exhibit. Because we wanted a very interactive site experience reflective of the new exhibit, we chose to develop the site in Flex.  Flex provided the platform for creating “flash-like” site features without having to hard-wire the design and content. With content feeds coming from multiple sources, including RSS feeds and the Aquarium’s Flickr and YouTube accounts, R2i created a very dynamic and robust user experience.

We engineered the site to send out alerts and related data capture into the Aquarium’s Bronto Email system and CRM application. By extending the site into the actual aquarium experience with a custom touch-screen kiosk design, we were able to tie back into the main site and CRM for data capture support.

Other micro-site features include custom wallpaper, screen savers and an interactive game to add to the user experience. Again, Flex provided the core development framework. The result…a robust site and user experience, with dynamic content and data collection at the pulse of the project.

Take a peek for yourself-
http://www.aqua.org/jellies/index.html
(click on explore the exhibit)

IA is the data flow, navigation structure, page real estate and business/user logic of the website. Think of it as the “blueprint” of the site. It’s not about pretty images and colors; it’s about the foundation of the site, how the user interacts with the site, action items, goals and features of the page flow. This stage is more like a CAD drawing of the site.  It is not always the most exciting process but mission critical as an outline for core functionality and user flow.

GUI is the design exercise that sits on top of the IA; this is the look and feel, the branding, the graphic standards and the “skin” of the site. The finished product needs to look good as well as function well.  A well balanced GUI is mission critical in order to accomplish this. Usage of color, design elements, icons and graphics can make or break the user experience.

The ability to draw the distinction between the two is mission critical in the development of an online web application or portal project. Throughout the past several months, R2i has engaged in several web application projects that negated either one or the other, or both of these applications.

So why is this distinction so important?  We have uncovered a grey area where these applications are concerned.  With some of the projects R2i has recently worked on, we inherited the IA and were asked to “re-design” the interface… does that mean just change the look and feel and graphics? Or does it mean really putting a critical eye on the data flow, process and user experience? These are very different tasks.

Based on personal experience, if the design is “not working” it’s more than just the design and colors; the flow is most likely off and just editing the design (“putting lipstick on a pig”) does not do the trick!  Taking a holistic approach to interface designs and working through the critical workflow, user experience and business rules up front will lead you down the path of a much smoother site design and build. It will produce a more intuitive final product and create a rich user experience.

Donuts

• Donut holes are really not a donut and don’t count as a donut, even if you eat four or five of them…it still does not equal a donut.

• Cutting a donut in half is acceptable etiquette and once again, a half of a donut doesn’t really count as eating a whole donut.

• Eating the other left over half doesn’t seem to really count either if consumed by another individual as you were just doing your part “not to be wasteful.”

• The fancier donuts always go first and the consumer tries to act “cool” when eating a donut with lots of icing, sprinkles and toppings…funny to watch!

• The classics are always well received, so keeping some old fashioned honey-dipped and others in the mix is a formula for success.
Now this is all in good fun but it does have some business sense to it as well:  people are people and like to interact with one another. Putting out some donuts each Friday is a good way (without breaking the bank) to bring people together and impart a bit of joy. This in turn makes for a happy team and a productive workforce. So, bring on the donuts and let the merriment begin!

The world of widgets is evolving into a solid set of tools and options, all of which can enhance dynamic content, features and functionality while off-setting maintenance and support to the organization responsible for the widget. Widgets can come in the form of simple data feeds, calculators and real-time data, just to name a few. If your project needs the support of value-added content or specific functionality, consider a widget. Many widget options are industry specific and can be integrated using the supplied embed codes. As more and more sites become specific to the user type via a portal delivery system, the usage of widgets is an excellent way to add real impact to your site.

In today’s digital eco-system many options exist. Great platforms for building upon are paving the way to add robust feature sets in less time. The need to re-invent the wheel is slowly waning. Utilization of best practices from a wide range of off-the-shelf products are helping sites make the leap into web 2.0 and 3.0. Although customization and integration may often be required, this can be done using some excellent open-source frameworks, reducing the need for costly license agreements. Of course some projects just don’t fit into the mold of anything off-the-shelf and need to be build from the ground up. These projects require more IT support but possess unique features, creating a user experience unlike any other.

So the question of building a site vs. buying a template depends on the scope of the project. The good news is this: there are more and better options to choose from.

More and more organizations are utilizing multiple tech platforms “mashed” into a single site. It can begin with a core CMS platform (either a Microsoft-based solution or a LAMP-based system) and utilize CRM integration, such as SalesForce forms that feed directly from the site to a client’s sales CRM.  Or, a site could use an association- based system, such as Avectra, to build all the registration and dynamic calendars for a corporate event. The site may pull an API or web services from other home-grown, 3rd party systems. Add to that the syndication of content and usage of data feeds. 

These sites involve a  more complex process for the integration, testing and launch, but the end result is an online destination that really integrates with the business needs of our clients, building a comprehensive on-line experience not merely a website.

The integral key to success is to keep the user(s) top of mind.  You must build a rich user experience and a well designed site, making all of this “technology” invisible.  From the user’s perspective, they can effortlessly navigate the site without knowing what technology is working behind the scenes… and that is just fine.

Are you ever truly done designing? Adding and updating content? Maintenance? The day you re-launch your site is also the day you continue to improve it, to monitor it and to enhance it. Designing or redesigning your website is only one component in the process. When your website goes live, you must ask yourself this:  What am I going to do next?

At R2i we have developed a program that helps guide clients through the complicated digital ecosystem; we call this program Net Bound.  Net Bound connects with client requirements for lead generation, brand awareness and related online activity to assist in developing a roadmap, specific goals, project work, analytics and support for the continual evolution of your corporate website.

The development of our own corporate site, www.r2integrated.com, supports the notion of the never-ending project.  Since re-launching a new and improved R2i site in June 2008, we are recurrently adding and updating content/features, including:  creation of a social micro-site (www.r2integrated.com/social/), weekly blog posts, content streams like syndicated video from Blip.tv, the addition of pertinent case studies and social media links to FaceBook, Twitter and Flickr, just to name a few.

It’s a good thing your site is never done; it means you are monitoring it, reacting to visitors and keeping the code, data, and features current. As technology continues to change, along with the demands to facilitate the best user experience, your website remains a continual work in progress.  Keeping your site top priority and realizing that your site will never be “done” will keep your business competitive and growing.

The Exotic Car Gallery, located in sunny Orlando, Florida, is an unforgettable experience and home to a rotating collection of rare super cars that include Bugatti, Maserati, Ferrari and many more. The Luxautica club is an exclusive automobile club for car enthusiasts passionate about driving the world’s finest vehicles. Forza Collection is the leader in sales and acquisition of these rare super cars for clients around the world.

Each company is a separate entity, but vertically aligned with shared resources. The Exotic Car Gallery is in essence a museum of rare cars; a place where car enthusiasts can marvel at cars they’ve dreamt about. The gallery also acts as a holding tank for vehicles not being used by Luxautica members as well as a lounge and entertainment area. And, when Luxautica members and Gallery visitors decide they want to own an exotic of their own, they can rely on Forza to locate the super car of their dreams. See how these business relationships intertwine and supply each other with the necessary products and/or services to satisfy their clients’ needs.

R2i was tasked with creating a brand for each entity. Taking on this project involved creativity and ingenuity. Elements of our success included creation of complimentary corporate logos and websites, messaging as well as development of collateral materials and a multimedia piece depicting their exotic story. With an upscale flavor and consistent message and color palette, R2i was able to successfully deliver the marketing elements needed to shift these businesses into high gear. Check it out for yourself at www.luxautica.com and www.exoticcargallery.com.