Some years ago, I was asked to lead an effort to revise and republish a web site for a chapter of a professional education organization. We got it done, and even won an award for it in a public relations competition sponsored by our parent organization.
Some key lessons I learned from that effort include:
1. You have more than one audience.
The web site serves for members and prospective members of our organization, as well as the general public. It falls under the supervision of the chapter’s board of directors.
I quickly learned that these diverse audiences could inadvertently be at cross-purposes. Some things needed to be spelled out for those unfamiliar with the organization, but might be taken for granted by the board members and other senior organization members.
2. Reviewing similar web sites is important.
While it is true that every building or house begins with a blueprint, ideas for that blueprint come from other, similar structures. The same is true for web sites.
My task force reviewed web sites for other chapters in our organization. We came away with many good ideas for how to design and structure content, as well as giving our site its own unique, local imprint.
3. Your web site URL counts.
One question asked early on involved the web site URL; must it remain the same, or could we change it?
We were given permission to change the URL, and we did so by coming up with a new, easier to remember name.
4. Pay attention to usability testing.
For our web site redesign project to work, we needed the support of our board of directors. We also needed to demonstrate that our redesigned site had the content people needed, and that this content was easily accessible.
We decided, to use the cliché, to kill two birds with one stone by asking the directors to serve as our usability testers. We identified certain content for the directors to find. They reviewed the site, found the content, and provided feedback.
With the directors acting as usability testers, they could see for themselves that we were working towards our redesigned goals.
Consider these lessons when you are asked to redesign a web site.
