Designing a Web Solution
1. Make sure you understand the business model ... i.e. what would this company define as "success". This is more often than not a simple equation of money in vs. money out but .com economics can confuse things. Null, for example, makes no money day to day and is looking at audience figures to allow them to sell on at a future time.
2. Picture the customer's customer. Relate to personal experiences where possible and remember the customer's "guiding lights". By this I mean if the customer is a man, maybe he's married. If your customer is a CEO there is a large chance his secretary will do the initial part of the decision making process. Think about what the customer's customer will use to make a decision and how you can help that person make what we define to be the right decision.
3. Evaluate the customer. Ask honest questions and get a feel for their ambition. It's no use selling gold to someone who wants silver! Also get a feel (ask if you need to!) how much time they can put into the solution. We cannot generate a solution for someone with no content and, as an example, a library section for someone who won't write the articles will be useless.
4 Remember you are not being told the truth. Each and every human being leans on their previous knowledge when making new decisions. This is fatally flawed when it comes to dealing with us as their previous knowledge is going to be of web designers who draw pretty pictures, web developers who design overly complex systems or backroom specialists who have gone out of business. We know this as if they were any good they would still be with them, they aren't with them (they're talking to us!) & therefore they must have had a bad experience! They will tell you "what they want / need" whereas they should be telling you "who they are / who they want to be". Convert the discussion to one about their business and their customers and you are 90% of the way there.
5. Remember who you are. Don't try and be technical or try and be a designer. Don't try and guess our abilities or our limitations. Your job is to come up with ideas, concepts and map customers' businesses. When suggesting a solution suggest what works for them, not what works for us. If it's out there, we can do it. Your role from prospect to delivery is as crucial as the designers and the developers, that does not however make it the same role.
6. Evaluate value throughout. If you have just suggested a solution which can save them hiring an administrator then you know it's worth at least £15,000. Ask them what its worth ... in BUSINESS TERMS. "e.g. so if we provided you a solution which increased revenue, customer loyalty and staff retention whilst decreasing the need for admin and dead time, what would that be worth to you?"
7. Don't limit the solution The web is all encompassing! Should part of the delivery be by SMS? Or by post? Should it integrate with back-end systems or should it use email for confirmations? Should users need to login or are we trying to generate a mailing list for future send out? Should the system use tablet PC's? Don't limit what you want to do by what has been done or by what you "presume" should be done.