Site concept: how and why to create it

The concept of the site is the first result of the site design in the broad sense of the word (in the future I will use it that way, understanding the process of designing and creating the site). And the first thing that, in our opinion, needs to be assessed (not in the commercial sense of the word, but in the sense of “getting a qualitative assessment”).

In the last article about the processing of research results, I proposed the following conceptual content : what the site will be like, how it will differ from competitors, what are the stages of the site development. Then I will tell you why, in our opinion, a concept is needed, what is the use of its creation, how it affects the process, and how to evaluate it.

Concept tasks

In our opinion, the concept solves three problems:

1. Determine the main ideas and directions of development and coordinate them with the client.
2. Get an estimate of these ideas from future users.
3. To form an ideological base, a single vision of the project among all participants.

The definition of basic ideas is of purely practical importance for the modeling of a site: we proceed from these ideas by designing both functional and informational structure and content.
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I will discuss the evaluation of ideas in more detail later in the Concept Assessment section.

The formation of an ideological base is an extremely important thing both for the result and for the process. The general vision is rather difficult to touch, check or measure, but its absence is felt very well at important stages of the website creation: the designer creates the wrong functions, the designer draws not what is needed.

Key moments when creating a concept

Since the concept is the beginning of a design , its main task is to formulate basic ideas and hypotheses. After it follows modeling - the synthesis of ideas and the development of solutions. This process is similar to the work of the brain, which first receives and analyzes information, and then instructs us to act in one way or another.

Details in the concept are of secondary importance, unless they define business logic. For example, in the concept of the XXX boutique site, it does not matter to us how the search in the catalog will be arranged or what characteristics the product will have. It is important that the catalog will be divided into two fundamentally different categories - for men and women, and that the product must be shown as beautifully as possible (the requirement for the quality of photos and the interface as an idea ).

Moreover, it is necessary to be aware that part of the concept will postulate fundamental things, and the other part - the hypotheses that we have to test, including at the stage of testing the concept, and then in the design and operation of the site. For example, in the concept of the XXX boutique website, we assume that visitors will use pre-order clothing, and offer them this opportunity. Will they - only time will tell. This is unlikely to affect the solution of the main tasks of the site: anyway, the purchase is done in a boutique, not on the site, and the task of the site is to bring a person to the boutique.

Since the concept will be read by the client and future users, it needs to be written in their language and nothing else. Try to avoid any technical or special terms, write simply and cheerfully so that it can be read to the end without making an effort. Otherwise, you will not get the correct response.

We cannot say for sure how effective the next piece of advice will be, but it definitely helps us. When creating a concept, connect another designer or just a person from your team and brainstorm , as a result of which you will: a) form a set of ideas; and b) select the most appropriate ideas. In our opinion, this approach allows you to avoid the vagueness of the eyes of the main designer, especially if the new project is similar to one of the previous ones, which happens rarely.

Concept evaluation

Why do you need it?

I advise you to check your concept on the real users of the site that you interviewed during the research. What for?

Firstly, it will give you useful feedback on whether you have taken into account their main wishes, whether they need such a website . This should not be taken literally, but it’s worth taking note.

Secondly, you will receive an emotional response to your ideas. The emotional component is extremely important for the evaluation of the site, no matter how informative and functional it is, no matter how well it solves the problem. This is especially true of the beautiful half of Central Asia.

Thirdly, in this way you will show your respect - that the user's opinion is important to you and you are ready to take it into account - which will be very useful at the stage of real testing of the site, when you need motivated (and, preferably, free) users for subsequent testing of the finished site .

What we want to hear

It is necessary to present the concept to at least two parties - the client and the users; in some cases - to experts.

We expect from the client that he will approve general ideas, how we will solve his tasks. As a rule, since the design goes in very close cooperation with the client, there is no disagreement on the concept. In fact, we simply do a test check so as not to make a serious mistake (and simple errors are easily corrected in the process of prototyping and development).

We expect about the same from the user , but we are already interested in whether the proposed concept solves their problem, how they evaluate it emotionally, whether they like it.

We expect from the expert that he will assess the compliance of the concept of the current situation (in the market, in the environment of the project) and its prospects.

How to evaluate

Evaluation of the concept, first of all, answers the question “Is this the best way to solve our problems?”. It should look, in our opinion, as follows.

To get started, find out how your respondents perceive information better - by ear or as text. Ask it in plain text - as a rule, people know about it - or analyze your observations during the interview. Next, give the conceptual text to the visuals, and read it to audals.

Then you need to ask a series of questions that, on the one hand, will show the attitude to the concept, on the other hand, they will verify the information obtained as a result of the research.

The important point is that the target groups can be quite different, so they may need to give for evaluation different parts of the concept that are relevant to them .

Users wise to ask the following questions:

1. How do you like the idea of ​​the project as a whole? Would you be interested in such a project?
2. Did something attract your attention? What would you like to know more?
3. Will you attend / use such a project?
4. What is most important for you on such a project? What will you do most often?
5. Have you seen similar sites? Can you compare our concept with them?

The client must ask such questions:

1. So did you imagine the project?
2. Does such a project solve your problems?
3. Do you like this concept?

I would ask an expert :

1. How modern is the concept, how much does it correspond to current trends?
2. How does the concept meet the needs and requirements of consumers?
3. How competitive is the project?

The questions, of course, will and should vary depending on the subject of the project. I suggested key questions that it makes sense to ask in any project.

What to do with the received response

The response from the client cannot be ignored. Firstly, because otherwise he will not take your job. Secondly, if you do not solve the client’s problems, then why are you doing a website?

The response from the user - everything is much more complicated. If users criticize (do not accept) an idea, this does not mean that it should not be implemented. But it is necessary to take into account that the first reaction when visiting the site will be exactly that, and that, perhaps, this idea needs to be justified by the visitor, indicating its usefulness.

The response from the expert is important for understanding how modern the project is, how well it meets the requirements of the environment, and how it stands out among competitors. For example, if the task to get rid of competitors is worth it, and according to the results of a survey of experts, it turns out that the project is no different or worse for the worse, this is a reason to make changes to the concept.

Summary

Summing up:

1. The main task of creating a concept can be formulated as follows: to form the ideological basis of the project and evaluate it *.
2. The concept needs to be discussed with the client, users and experts.
3. The response to the concept shows us more or less reliably whether it solves the tasks of the client and users.

* PS We will tell you later about our methodology for testing the site as a whole, which includes an assessment of the concept. We are actively working on it.