Questions to Answer before Your Next Redesign

Why is it that website redesigns with the best intentions always seem to find a way to go awry? Although every company is different, we tend to see the same types of redesign challenges casting common frustrations to those stuck in the mud of developer contracts, .psd files, and web assets. To spare as many headaches as possible, here are a few critical questions to answer before beginning your next major overhaul or new micro-site. 1. Is now the right time? It seems trivial to even include this question, but it is arguably the most important. It’s easy to underestimate the types of ongoing necessary resources that can push a project into a delay spiral. ( Onboard’s Redesign Sanity Guide offers a flow chart that can help you answer this question.) Make sure the project is in sync with your company’s upcoming initiatives – even after your projected launch time – and plan conservatively for delays. 2. Do we know what the real existing issues are? For a simple little exercise in what types of feedback you’ll come across in the redesign process, get a handful of end users or colleagues to do a two-minute critique your website today. Chances are you’ll get a lot of different perspectives of some of the lower-level corrections that we tend to focus on during planning. Channel every critique back to your ultimate goal – whether it’s better articulating your brand proposition, getting in front of the right people, or converting more traffic to customers. 3. Is my team on the same page regarding requirements? Ninety-nine percent of web redesign delays come down to miscommunication among the parties involved. We recommend over-communicating with everyone involved—from executive review to those who will be part of ongoing maintenance. Leave out the assumptions so you don’t get stuck at launch ripping your hair out with statements like these—all of which are real things we’ve heard from redesigns: • “We have to pay extra to do another mock up of the design?” • “I can’t see the site on my iPad!” • “This site isn’t compatible in Chrome?!”

While working with creative agencies or developers, we often make assumptions that end up as points of frustration (or worse, outstanding items that cause delays). Discussing each requirement all the way down to the minutiae in a Project Brief or RFP Request is the only way to protect your project. 4. Do we have a clear approval path? Since we are all web users, we tend to have strong opinions when it comes to user experience and online branding. If you’ve been through a past redesign, you know this can be equal parts inspiring and frustrating. As we mentioned from question #2 – have a clear goal in mind and use it to avoid the temptation to let disparate pieces of conflicting feedback turn into a mishmash of well-intentioned ideas that don’t speak to the end user. By no means are we suggesting not to sweat the small stuff (the most successful and loved brands in the world do). However, we do think each piece of feedback along the way – from clients, test groups, or internal – deserves a gut check in terms of how it relates to your overall strategy. Web redesigns shouldn’t be as painful as they are. Get Onboard’s Redesign Sanity Guide for more tips from pre to post-launch to keep your project on the rails. Since 2001, Onboard Informatics has transformed complex real estate data into content-based tools that foster human engagement and accelerate business goals across web and mobile platforms. For more information, visit www.onboardinformatics.com .

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