Organisations imply greater complexity than, for example, sole trader businesses. So, it’s worth considering how they work and the implications for their web presence. The anatomy of organisations, whether they are businesses or other types, implies managing four things:
Projects
Projects are the organisation main activities, its reason for existing. The web designer must understand the organisation’s purpose to design something that helps the organisation meet its needs. Furthermore the designer needs to be sensitive to how their decisions can have an unintended impact on the organisation’s purpose. Their role is to discuss these issues with the organisation. It is certainly not to introduce changes on their own whim or that of their client. The client will not necessarily understand the impact of online changes for their organisation.
Staff
Employment of staff is the obvious difference between an organisation and a sole trader. The designer needs to find out who will be responsible for the organisation’s web presence and the time and skills they will devote to it. Do they know more or less than the client about how websites work? A significant part of the designer’s role may be training the staff who will be responsible for site maintenance. But it goes further than that because the site is likely to have an impact on the work of all staff. The organisation may need help to anticipate consequences for staff and to instruct staff about the changes.
Resources
The website designer needs to understand the financial resources and time available to maintain and develop the organisation’s web presence. There may also be practical issues about equipment to consider. Outdated equipment might seriously limit what can be done by the organisation. And always a business will be aware of its bottom line – just how beneficial to the organisation is their web presence?
Information
Information is the life blood of any web presence and whatever form it takes the organisation will manage information through its web presence. As well as identifying the main sources of information and how they need to be managed, there are also a number of issues such as privacy and security that will apply. Remember important information will include things like email lists as much as information relating directly to the purpose of the organisation. Even if the organisation produces physical objects or activities, available locally, there may be potential to market them through information. The designer needs to help the organisation identify the information and work out how to market it effectively.
All of these can have significant implications for an organisation’s web presence. However, you may still not be convinced this is a part of the web designer’s role. This is one reason I prefer the term “web consultant” because organisations these days need more than a designer. I’ll explain more next time.