Earlier this year our David Lockie spoke at WooConf and WordCamp Europe about our Discovery & Definition processes.
Discovery & Definition is the proven method which we use to plan projects successfully from the very beginning. You can find out more about our Discovery & Definition approach to project planning below:
After many requests, we’ve decided to share some of the questions we ask in a Discovery & Definition meeting. Here is a selection of the questions we ask below:
About you
- When was the organisation founded?
- Who are your internal stakeholders for this project?
- Who are your customers?
- Who are your competitors?
About the project
- What’s the basic type of project?
- What’s your budget for this project?
- What is your ideal go-live date?
- Are there any project collaborators?
- Who is our point of contact for the project?
- Are there any reference sites you particularly like?
Current site
- Do you have a current site?
- Where is your current site hosted?
- What do you like about your current site?
- Do you have any web analytics you can share?
- Do we need to do any data/content migration?
Marketing
- What channels do you use?
- Do you have any specific marketing goals for the new site?
Content & assets
- Do you have a sitemap planned?
- How will we handle uploading initial content to the site?
- Have you created your copy yet?
- Do we need to set up any redirects?
Design
- Do you have a logo?
- Do you have a brand book?
- Do you have existing imagery of your own?
- Do you want us to source any stock photography?
- Do you have any wireframes?
- Do you want us to do any web design work?
- Are there any specific structural design notes?
- Does the design require custom web font integration?
Technology
- Where is your domain registered?
- Where is your DNS currently hosted?
- What web platform are we going to build this site in?
- Where will the new site be hosted?
- Do you want us to use your own version control?
Functionality
- Do you have any protected content requirements?
- Do you want us to perform any integrations?
- Do you want an SSL certificate?
- Do you have any specific accessibility requirements?
- Do you have any browser compatibility requirements?
- Do you want commenting or other user-generated content?
- Do you have any security requirements?
- Do you have any specific analytics requirements?
- Do you have any specific form requirements?
- Are there any other specific technology requirements?
eCommerce
- Do you want eCommerce?
- Where do you ship?
- Do you need multicurrency?
- What payment gateways do you want to offer?
- Do you run any sort of sale or promotion?
- Do you need data feeds for e.g. Google Shopping?
Training and site management
- Who will be the site administrator?
- Who will manage content going forwards?
- Do you already have WordPress experience?
- What are your training requirements?
WordPress specifics
- What theme are we going to use?
- Any specific plugins we need to use?
- Are there any specific workflow requirements?
- Are there any user profile or account requirements?
Ongoing services
- Do you want us to do WordPress maintenance for you?
- Do you want an ongoing support agreement?
- Do you want us to set up ongoing, automated testing?
- Do you want us to manage your DNS for you?