Web design rules for PR
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The document provides 45 rules of web development for PR professionals to help them effectively manage digital projects and avoid annoying developers, alienating designers, and looking stupid in front of clients. Some key tips include starting with the user experience, planning for contingencies as timelines often slip, properly briefing teams and clients, and continuously learning about the technical aspects of web development.
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Web design rules for PR
- 1. 45 rules of web development for PR people (AKA how not to annoy and destroy your developers, alienate designers and look stupid in front of clients).
- 3. Know your DNS from your IP address (there are some terms you just gotta know)
- 4. Know the basic first questions to ask. The same each time. First is always why? Then audience, hosting, access, tech, deadlines, budget…
- 5. Learn how to write a brief. And fast. Your career depends on how well you can brief people.
- 6. Start with the user. Always. You don’t personally need to be an expert in UX but you always start there.
- 7. Few digital projects are the same. Designers and developers are sometimes as new to this as you are.
- 8. Adapt the planning process to fit the individual campaign. Figure out early what is going to be less painful and more productive.
- 9. Plan around the deliverables but don’t forget basics like holidays, meetings, courses, client events…
- 10. A solid project plan is important but don’t assume everything will go as planned. It won’t. Ever.
- 11. Be clear when it needs to go live. Then be clear when it REALLY needs to go live
- 12. Think about metrics before you start and when you’re building, not afterwards.
- 13. Check your team capacity at every stage of the process. Have back-ups.
- 14. A wireframe is a site framework, not an accurate technical drawing or design.
- 15. With responsive design and parallax/scrolling sites, there is no longer a “fold” to be below.
- 16. Understand colours and fonts and how they work on the web vs. in print.
- 17. Think about measurement across all channels.
- 18. Edits cost money, build in sufficient rounds or your margin will walk out of the door before your designs are signed off.
- 19. IE8 and below are closer to an etch-a-sketch than a browser.
- 20. Always view mockups at full size.
- 21. Build in double the time you think you’ll need for edits and approvals.
- 22. Assume content will be late and factor in appropriately.
- 23. Inches and centimetres have no place or meaning on screen (e.g. don’t ask to 'nudge a logo up a few mm’)
- 24. Always be aware of responsive viewing on different devices.
- 25. Know what your team’s capabilities are – assign clear ownership, especially when multiple agencies involved.
- 26. Get it in writing – no backtracking allowed!
- 27. Forget traditional typesetting (at least in terms of body content).
- 28. • Know your devices and their limitations • Know your browsers and their limitations • Know your audience and their limitations
- 29. Your PR client probably hasn't got overall sign off without input from brand, legal, IT etc. Check this at the outset.
- 30. If it comes back without changes, the right person hasn’t seen it yet.
- 31. Good developers are very hard to find. Handle with care in the main, kick ass only if occasionally necessary.
- 32. Designers and developers don't work 24/7. Unless your support contract specifies it.
- 33. Know when to push back on your client and when to push back on your developers. Use both wisely and don’t confuse the two.
- 34. It's perfectly fine to say "no" or “not in time for launch” if there genuinely isn’t the time to do something well.
- 35. When timelines slip or launch approaches, build a 'real world' list rather than a 'wish list' and prioritise accordingly
- 36. Things can, do and always will go wrong; have alternative suppliers in case you need them for support.
- 37. No matter how much you test, there will always be someone somewhere who can’t get the thing to work.
- 38. DNS propagation can take up to and even beyond 48hours. Not everything online is immediate.
- 39. Video and animation takes forever to render and upload. Changes cost money and take time, it’s not Microsoft Word.
- 40. If timescales slip on the client side, suggest launching in phases.
- 41. Remember that your devs and designers do have lives of their own….
- 42. Check and double check the SEO plans and agreements for the project, if any.
- 43. Invest as much time/money/thought/effort into promoting it as you do building it.
- 44. Learn each time. And keep learning. And learn from your mistakes.
- 45. Beware of knowing a bit and becoming an expert. You’re not. You’re learning.
- 46. When it is a web build, it is never final. Ever.
- 47. what’s NEXT This was crowdsourced from our design and dev teams by Becky McMichael, Ruder Finn bmcmichael@ruderfinn.co.uk @beckymcmichael +44 (0) 7788 421165 *images taken from Flickr and used under CC
Editor's Notes
- Image: courtesy of Kevin Hillstrom: http://blog.minethatdata.com/2012/06/knows-just-enough-to-be-dangerous.html