Filed away in one of the categories geared more towards those in the business of design, I wrote an article about the importance of my client questionnaire and the shaping of a design/development brief.
I think, in fact I know that handing this off to a client has, on more than one occasion caused me to lose the job. I don’t want to speculate on why that might be the case but I would like to explain why it is necessary to my process and will not be going away anytime soon. I do not do this to screen clients or discourage them from working with me, quite the opposite. I do it so that our time working together is better managed, more enjoyable and the end result, a more complete product.
After all, this tool we are about to embark on building is an extension of your business, whether it be a marketing tool or the business itself. I would hope that like your business you would prefer it to be well researched and constructed accordingly.
Why is this necessary?
It is not the questionnaire on it’s own but the information gathered through the questionnaire that is essential to the start of a successful project.
It’s important to note:This is not looked at as the final word in how your site will function or what it will look like as each project has needs and requirements of it’s own nor is every question going to fit perfectly for your business or project. This a building block or base for beginning our research and gaining a good understanding of everything about the project from your goals to your competition.
Sure we could sit down and agree to build a site that looks like Joe Neighbor’s business website because everyone always comments on the stunning colors that have been used in his, but more than likely you will regret your decision to do so six months down the road when freshness of the color scheme has grown old and your site is still failing to produce at the level of your competitor.
No we need to plan, get into it and find out why you need the site and what you want to accomplish, it starts here.
We need to dig past the aesthetics and uncover aspects of your project like, how you plan to market the site after launch, whether or not you hope to be able to easily and effectively manage the content of the site, whom your target market is.
Positive Effects on the Project
Going beyond the final outcome of the project, proper planning will also have a positive effect on the building stages of the project. It is in my experience that taking the extra time on the front end of the project to properly plan allows the project to run smoother overall and produce fewer instances for drastic changes and additions. Fewer instances of change or project addition not only assures that the project will be completed on time but also within budget.
Beyond that it also allows us, the developing company to provide you with an accurate quote on time and required budget for the project.
Thus Far Only Positives, But…
The only two possible negatives of course are one, it requires a bit of your time and two, you will not always have the answer to every question. In the case of number one, we can’t really do anything to combat this, however I am not sure that proper planning can be viewed as a negative. In most cases you would probably welcome the idea that someone put this kind of thought into helping your project and business succeed.
In the case of number two, this is easy. Answer what you can. In the questionnaire I provide, which is attached below, you will notice that around 50% of the questions focus on your business not necessarily pertaining to the web. Questions that you can more than likely fire off answers to as quickly as your own name, it is your business after all. The rest of the questions are fairly straightforward although dipping into the web or technical side of things. These questions are there to provide a starting point. You can answer them and we will work from there or we can work together to complete them. That is one of the keys here, we have to work together to plan on the front end to ensure success on the back end.
It’s not a terribly difficult process to get started with. It should not discourage you from working with someone, in fact quite the opposite. Rather than go on through the entire list of questions that may pop up I have decided to make my company questionnaire available for download here, please feel free to grab a copy and have a look when you have the time. Please note that this is the questionnaire used at Papertree Design, it is not the same questionnaire you might find elsewhere but I think it will touch on some of the essentials. Please feel free to leave your comments, questions or suggestions below.