Estimates, Architectures and Wireframes, Oh My!

Wednesday, March 19th, 2008

In a previous article, I touched briefly on Site Architectures and Wireframes. In this article, I will outline how important they are to make sure projects stay on budget and so the client doesn’t get away with scope creep. Scope creep is where new features and new work is slowly done at the request of the client, eating resources and time.

In the realm of web development, it’s harder for clients to grasp what it is that you do and how long something takes. Adding something as simple as a search box isn’t as simple as dragging and dropping a Search Box from another website onto your own.

Estimates

Estimate high. If people are going to shop around, it shouldn’t matter to you. You should be able to stand by your price and be ready to be honest if the project comes in lower for the client.

Be prepared to go over each individual item you’re developing and its details. Break your job bank or social networking portal into smaller (much smaller), definable steps. Example:

A term as vague as user registration can be broken down into:
- Create an account page
- Confirmation page
- Email sent to the user
- Account creation page

If you don’t have anything to use as a deterrent to use against a client’s scope creep, it’ll be an uphill battle trying to convince the client that what he or she asked for is not within the budget.

Information Architecture

In a previous article, I wrote that an information architecture is “an information architecture is a diagram illustrating the structure of your website and all its components (such as pages or password protected areas)”. If you’re unfamiliar with how it can look, here’s the previous example I used:

Information Architecture

If you do not prepare information architecture for custom development projects. You need one. There isn’t an option. Preparing one will not take an incredible amount of time, but boy, is it ever worth it. Just like your estimate, your information architecture will provide you with the basis for preventing scope creep.

If you’re still not convinced that information architectures are worth doing, just remember that it will help a lot with project management and making sure every aspect of your website is taken care of.

Wireframe

In a previous article I mentioned that a “wireframe is a diagram representing a specific page and generally lays out how it’s going to work and where things will generally be placed.”

Protection, protection, protection. That’s what we’re looking for. Looking at the example I listed above, if the client were to ask for a user registration system, I can say that he signed off on the wireframe and that additional work will cost extra above and beyond the cost estimated.

I’m protected, hope that helps.