i am a proponent of structured thinking and strategic planning. even quick-decision-making scenarios (QDMSs) arising from, say competitive moves or supply problems or below-expectations results, should be - in my opinion - well thought-out.
my mantra: always go back to the strategy which lays down the raison d'etre of the campaign in the first place.
so it follows that when someone tells me "just build a website!", i cringe.
building a website - particularly for big brands and brands that wish to compete for audiences' attention in a highly fragmented, attention-contested medium like that internet - is a major undertaking.
TV ads follow a certain process - so do print ads. but i believe that the process of building a website is far more complex.
when one builds a website, one does not simply build for one's self: the website's users' satisfaction is what's key.
usability and usefulness. relevance and timeliness. loyalty and repeat-visits.
these are just some of the variables that are in play.
and websites - like TV or print ads - need to be responsive to changes in consumers' mindsets. but the expectations of audiences from websites are far greater: you need to change quickly, lest you lose them.
why? because they are in control.
i found this map from Usability.Gov that talks about building a usable, useful, and relevant site.
it looks complicated - because it is complicated.
(visualizers will probably cringe at the site of this flowchart - but it is the reality. there is a better way of visualizing this, I am sure, but for now, just bear with the visual.)
so what do you do?
1. Plan.
2. Analyze.
3. Design.
4. Test.
5. Refine
6. Repeat.
(I added the last one.)
and no, this can't be done overnight.
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