Web Site Planning Process: Decision Making

This is the third in a series of entries on credit union web site planning. The series follows CU Village’s web site planning model that includes six phases: 1) Goal Setting , 2) Strategy Development, 3) Decision Making, 4) Site Development, 5) Site Launch and 6) Maintenance and Growth.

The third phase in the planning model is Decision Making. In the first phase you set your strategies. In the second phase you looked at the various options that could help you achieve those strategies. In the third phase it is time to set your priorities and make decisions based on the options you've already considered. Simply, you decide exactly what needs to be done and when. Before any programming or site development starts you need to finalize and document in writing:

• Site organization and size
• Screen layouts and graphical design
• Programming and database requirements
• Features and functionality
• Hosting and other technology requirements
• Time line and project plan for completion

What should drive your decision? The three constraints of project management:

The idea being you can’t change one constraint (time, cost or scope) without changing the others, and that you really can only control two out of the three. Or put another way, your choices are doing it fast, cheap or good—pick two.

You can't always get what you want
But if you try sometimes, well you just might find
You get what you need - The Rolling Stones

The other factors that should drive your decisions are what members want and what will make the most sense to them. Also, your goals, mission and positioning as a credit union should absolutely drive your decisions.

Once you've made your decision to get a new site, there is always a strong urge to get at the development of it right away. But by figuring out what you need with some precision before you start development you will save a great deal of time and money in the long run. As such, these first three steps of developing a better web site are about building a blueprint for everything that will go into your site and how it all fits together to meet the needs of your credit union and your members. The final three steps are about putting your plan into action and getting the job done, which I will cover in future posts.