Top 10 Website Features #9 The Checklist: Presentation

The Checklist has four parts: Branding, Presentation (this part), Website Logistics and Project Management.  This installment on Presentation tries to expose the “tactile” elements of the website interacting with the target audience.  After you complete the Branding checklist to orient the site, now you have to figure out all physical ways it touches the audience your brand tries to reach.  Answering these questions, will help you (and the other site designers)  construct the menus and navigational flow, estimate and problem solve any special formats that are important to address like mobile views and to generally expose ways your audience will try to use the site so you can greet them at the door, so to speak, properly.

1. What is the one most important thing your most important website visitor needs to get from your site?
   (eg. buy a product, learn a fact, contact you, etc.)
2. Do most people connect to your site:
   1. From Home or from Work
   2. On desktop/laptop computers or Phones or Tablets
3. Do you want to control screen geography precisely:
   1. Is there one browser type you know you must accommodate?
      (eg. Chrome, Explorer, Safari, Firefox, Opera, Konqueror)
   2. Is there a screen resolution you know you must support?
      1. Oldest: 640×480
      2. Currently most popular
         Mobile: iPhone
         Desktop: 1366×768 or higher
   3. Do you want a fixed size format presentation or for the site to fill the screen no matter the size of the user’s display?
   4. Does your customer expect to print a lot of the content directly from the browser version of the page?
4. Do you have a special needs audience (visually impaired in any way)?
   (eg. farsighted – needs larger type, colorblind, viewing outdoors, etc.)
5. Does your audience expect video, audio or slide show presentations?
6. Does your audience expect to download large documents?
7. Is there any special vocabulary your audience uses not in use by the general public that will be required for menus and instructions?
8. Are there other languages you know you need to support other than American English?
9. Do you know what kind of bandwidth your audience uses if one is predominant? (eg field reps on wireless or home workers on dialup)
10. Are there any third party services you know you need to support through the website with requirements on presentation?
11. What amount of time do you believe your average user will spend on the site? (number of pages, minutes of browsing, downloads, etc.)
12. Is there anything about the physical presentation of the site that you wish to specify?