Website Projection

Website projection is one of the most important stages in the process of creating a website. It allows us to answer two main questions:

• How to achieve the goals set for the website?
• How should the website function?

Although the problems that arise may vary, the main stages of the process remain unchanged.

Stage 1. Information Gathering

All stages of design are interconnected, and the direction of subsequent steps largely depends on the results of this initial stage. The necessary information can be gathered quickly, but additional clarifications are often needed during the work. The most important thing here is to ask the right questions:

• Defining goals: Clarify what objectives the project must achieve and what results are expected at the end. It is very important to separate primary goals from secondary ones.
• Communication with the client: Ask the client to present their idea in detail. Listen patiently, without interrupting. An enthusiastic person may talk at length – that's normal. After they finish, summarize what was said in a few sentences and clarify any unclear points on the spot to avoid future misunderstandings.
• Identifying competitors: Find out who the competitors are. If the client insists that "there are no competitors," then either the market has not been sufficiently studied, or it's a monopoly. There are almost always at least indirect competitors.
• Organizational matters: Clarify deadlines, the planned budget, and the decision-makers. A mistake made at this stage can have serious consequences.

Tip: Be sure to record all answers to important questions in a document.

Stage 2. Project and Client Goals

Every client has a clear goal: one wants to make direct sales through the website, another wants to increase business visibility, and a third simply wants to share a hobby.

Often, the client's goals and the project's goals may differ, forming a so-called "goal tree." To achieve the client's main goal, the project must solve a number of sub-tasks. For example, if the goal is to create a profitable business, the designer must manage the budget wisely, avoiding unnecessary initial expenses (such as building complex video sections).

Example:

• Project: A social platform for pet owners.
• Client's goal: Making a profit.
• Project's goals:
• Help users choose a pet.
• Provide solutions for pet care issues.
• Create thematic communities (groups).
• Build a comprehensive information database.
• Provide a platform for buying and selling pet-related supplies.

Stage 3. Target Audience and Persona

This stage requires in-depth analysis. It is necessary to understand for whom the website is being created and what problems it will solve for users. The target audience is usually divided according to the following criteria:

• Socio-demographic: Gender, age, education, income level, occupation. This forms the project's basic foundation.
• Psychological: Lifestyle, character traits, beliefs, and value system.
• Behavioral: Motivation for registering, expected benefits, frequency of visits, loyalty to the platform, and willingness to switch to other websites.
• Geographic: Country, city, region. Although the internet is global, for local businesses (e.g., delivery services) this point is very important.

Creating a Persona

After analyzing the audience, a collective persona is created for each segment. For example, for an IT industry platform, personas could be a network administrator, a developer, and a company director. Each persona is given a name, age, profession, habits, problems, and a picture (avoid using images of acquaintances or famous people to prevent biased associations). The designer's task is to "step into" that persona and understand their needs.

Stage 4. Competitor Analysis

To ensure a quality result, you need to know everything about your competitors, assessing their strengths and weaknesses. Effective methods for finding competitors include:

• Statistical market surveys.
• Studying rating tables.
• Analyzing industry articles and blogs.
• Advanced search engine research (Google).

Competitors are divided into two groups:

• Direct competitors: Companies offering exactly the same product or service in the same market.
• Indirect competitors: Companies that satisfy only part of your customers' needs or offer alternative solutions.

By following these sequential stages, clearly formulating the project's goals, and correctly analyzing the target audience and competitive landscape, you create a solid foundation for the website's future success. Design is the axis around which a competent and effective website is built.