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♦ XHTML coding: Some projects simply require XHTML coding and CSS. Presumably, the copy has already been provided, and you simply need to convert it to XHTML format. This work isn’t difficult, but it’s tedious. Use a text editor with macro capability — after you create an XHTML template.

♦ XHTML template design: Devise an overall page design. The content isn’t important here, but the general page design is the issue. This task requires sample data and an editor. It’s normally done in conjunction with CSS templating.

♦ CSS design: After you have an XHTML template or two (so that you know the logical structure of the pages), you can work on the visual design. Start with sketches on paper and maybe images from a paint program. After you have a layout approved, write the CSS to implement it.

♦ Data design: If the project will have a database component, take some time to analyze (and, often, rebuild) the data structure to follow the normalization rules. Data work is difficult because it doesn’t have a visual result, yet it’s critical to the overall site. This step is usually put off until the end, and that decision often dooms Web projects. If you need data design, start it early.

♦ Data implementation: If the project has a data component, write and test the SQL code to build the database, including tables, views, and sample queries. You need time to write PHP code to connect the database to the XHTML front end.

♦ Site integration and implementation: It takes some effort to fit all the pieces back together and make them work. Usually, this process is ongoing. The site needs to be set up on a production server and then tested and launched.

♦ Testing: Testing your work with live users is critical. You can use formal usability studies, but failing that, you still learn a lot by asking people to use your system and watching them do it (with your mouth shut). This method is the best way to see whether your assumptions are correct and the site is doing what it needs to do.

For this discussion, I’m assuming you’re building the entire site manually. In Chapter 3 of this minibook, I explain how to use content management systems to simplify the process of building large Web sites.

Understanding the Audience

Understanding your audience is one of the trickiest parts of Web planning. You need to anticipate the audience in a number of ways, as described in the following sections.

Determining whom you want to reach

Before you make a lot of design decisions, you need to think carefully about the type of person you’re trying to reach in the Web site.

Try to anticipate the mindset that people have when they use a particular site. For example, one of my students simultaneously worked on two sites: one for a graduate program at a university and another for a spa and salon. She had to think quite differently about the users of the two sites, which had implications for how she approached each step of the process.

The graduate program page was part of a Web site for a university. The university already had its own style and branding guidelines, official colors, and a number of (evolving) standards. The potential users of this site were graduate students seeking online degrees. The focus of this site was all business. People were there to learn about the graduate program and set up their schedules. They wanted information about classes, instructors, and schedules, but they didn’t want anything that interfered with the problem at hand. The writing was efficient and official, the color scheme was standard, and the layout was also official.

The spa and salon page had an entirely different feel. The owner loves design and spent long hours picking exactly the right paint color for the walls in the physical space. She’s really happy with her brochure, and although she’s not sure exactly what she wants, she knows when something isn’t right. She wants to give her customers information about the salon, but more importantly, she wants them to get a sense of how invigorating,