The skills required to develop a Web site are diverse. In most cases, Web sites involve a team approach. This is because an individual does not commonly possess the artistic, content-development, and technical abilities required to complete the project by himself or herself. It's unusual to find an engineer who also writes well, and it's also unusual to find a Web developer who is at the same time a high-level graphic designer, programmer, and editor.
Thus, most project managers find themselves dealing with a team of individuals with widely diverse skill sets. How that all comes together is a subject we will discuss in Chapter 9. However, for our purposes here, we will want to identify the project tasks involved with creating a Web site and determine under which category these tasks fall.
At this stage, when tasks are identified, the object is more to make a "shopping list" than to devise a highly specialized how-to document-a project specification. Once the tasks are identified, the project specification can then be authored by the project team (i.e., the artistic team head writes the creative specification; the programming team head writes the technical specification; and so forth). Therefore, the project manager needs to develop a "to-do" list. Once the team members have a chance to review it, specifications will be written, and from there the project manager can devise a budget and a schedule.
For the following exercises, envision a project requiring the Web firm to build a school's Web site, which would include a database for the library. The school wishes to attract new students, provide a foundation through which students can learn about the Web, and provide information for the school community.
a) | How would you identify the creative tasks involved in this site? What would they be? Do not be concerned if you have no experience with this. Look at a Web site. What elements might be contributed by people in traditionally creative roles? __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ |
b) | What would you ask the client about how he or she would like the Web site to look if you had the opportunity? __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ |
a) | How would you identify the technical tasks involved in this site? What would they be? What type of contributions to the Web site might you expect from your programming team? __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ |
b) | What would you ask the client about his or her technical goals if you had the opportunity? __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ |
a) | How would you identify the administrative tasks involved in this site? What would they be? Consider how an office is run. Are there some tasks, such as filing, answering client inquiries, and submitting the weekly payroll, that might have to take place in the background so that this project can continue in the foreground? __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ |
b) | What questions would you ask the client that might impact on these administrative concerns? __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ |
a) | How would you identify the marketing tasks involved in this site? What would they be? __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ |
b) | What would you ask the client about his or her marketing goals if you had the opportunity? __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ |
This section gives you some suggested answers to the questions in Lab 8.3, with discussion related to those answers. Please post any alternative answers to these questions at the companion Web site for this book, located at http://www.phptr.com/phptrinteractive.
a) | How would you identify the creative tasks involved in this site? What would they be? Do not be concerned if you have no experience with this. Look at a Web site. What elements might be contributed by people in traditionally creative roles? __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ |
A1: | Creative tasks can be defined by interviewing the client and discussing requirements with the creative team. A broad description of the creative tasks involved in developing this Web site includes the following:
When building any Web site, there are graphical interfaces and content to be developed. Therefore, the developer needs to ascertain how the content is going to be delivered and how much original graphic design is required. The only way to do this is to require the school officials to organize their thoughts (see8.3.1.b). The developer understands that the site is being built for school families as well as for prospective students and their parents. Therefore, the audience visiting the site will have varying access speeds and may be running older browsers on their computers. The graphic design must be attractive to both kids and adults, as well as make the best use of image size so that the pages will load quickly. Graphics should also make the best use of any school logos, colors, and mascots-things that are uniquely identifiable with the school. Written content should be developed by the school administration, with editing contributed by the Web firm. Several Web sites are extremely helpful for editing Web-based communications, and Web site editors should be familiar with the concepts contained therein:
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b) | What would you ask the client about how he or she would like the Web site to look if you had the opportunity? __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ |
A2: |
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a) | How would you identify the technical tasks involved in this site? What would they be? What type of contributions to the Web site might you expect from your programming team? __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ |
A1: | Technical tasks would be defined by interviewing the client and discussing requirements with the technical team. A broad description of the technical tasks involved in developing this Web site includes the following:
A database programmer should evaluate the Web site requirements so that decisions can be made regarding the server, its operating system, and database middleware. NT platforms offer SQL server and Access database solutions. The preferred database for UNIX servers is Oracle or mySQL. Oracle can be used for databases with 80,000 records and above. However, the site license is expensive. MySQL is available as a free download and offers a stable environment for databases with up to 80,000 records. Based on database and any additional interactive requirements, a decision can be made regarding the server. The following sites, particularlyCAST.org, are very useful for developing a site that is widely accessible by the general public. A school Web site should pass the "Bobby" test-a Web-based tool that evaluates sites for accessibility to people with disabilities and international users and for compatibility with various browsers.
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b) | What would you ask the client about his or her technical goals if you had the opportunity? __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ |
A2: |
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a) | How would you identify the administrative tasks involved in this site? What would they be? Consider how an office is run. Are there some tasks, such as filing, answering client inquiries, and submitting the weekly payroll, that might have to take place in the background so that this project can continue in the foreground? __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ |
A1: | Administrative tasks would be defined by interviewing the client, the Web firm owner (or whoever has authorization to allocate the firm's resources) and discussing requirements with the project team.
Administrative tasks are traditionally performed by the project manager. Techniques for performing these functions will be examined in depth in later chapters. |
b) | What questions would you ask the client that might impact on these administrative concerns? __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ |
A2: |
In other words, the project manager needs to have a broad view of the project so that he or she can adequately estimate the project and manage it cost-effectively. While the specifics can be micromanaged by creative, technical, and marketing team leaders, the project manager will need to be aware of all the schedule benchmarks and whether the project is progressing on budget, making adjustments as necessary. |
a) | How would you identify the marketing tasks involved in this site? What would they be? __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ |
A1: | Marketing tasks would be defined by interviewing the client and discussing requirements with the marketing team.
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b) | What would you ask the client about his or her marketing goals if you had the opportunity? __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ |
A2: |
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In order to test your progress, you should be able to answer the following questions:
1) | Which of the following creative tasks would need technical input:
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2) | Which of the following marketing tasks would require creative input:
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