WEB SITE PROJECT MANAGEMENT GRADED PROJECT

Graded Project

Web Site Project Management

INTRODUCTION 1

PROJECT SCENARIO 1

PROCEDURE 3

SUBMITTING YOUR PROJECT 6

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C o n t e n t s

C o n t e n t s

1

INTRODUCTION

After completing all the required readings and activities in your textbook and study guide, you’ll be ready to complete the final project. This project requires you to use the Web project management and planning skills you’ve learned throughout this course. In this project, you’re the project manager in a Web design and marketing firm, and will be asked to lead the project management of a Web site for a new client.

The project requires you to do some research on what would be necessary to run an actual Web project from start to fin- ish. You won’t be asked to develop a whole site on your own or to write all the steps involved in managing such a project, but you will be asked to think of and come up with some ideas and documentation to show how you would manage the project.

Remember: When you have a Web project, you’ll need to use the client’s style guide, logos, and images in the site, if they provide any. After completing the project, you’ll send the files to the school for grading.

PROJECT SCENARIO

You’re going to meet with a client for the first time to discuss a Web project. You’re free to be creative for this project and come up with the scenario for a potential client, such as a restaurant, sports team, art gallery, or gardening site, or you can use the scenario provided below.

Web Site Project Management

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Remember that you can use your own scenario or use this one.

Kelly Zimmerman has been an elementary school teacher for 10 years. She has often played with the idea of creating a Web site for parents so they can see the activities their children are involved in. Kelly keeps very busy and has never had time to learn Web development to even get her site started. Instead, she decided to start a Web-based business where she could offer activities, lesson plans, and worksheets to teachers and parents. Initially, she just wants to offer lesson plans and activities. Eventually she would also like to offer online games for children of all ages. She has decided to offer some services free to parents and teachers. However, she’ll also offer extensive lesson plans, activities, and worksheets to teachers and daycare providers who want to subscribe to the service. She’ll also provide advertising to other busi- nesses whose products and services will appeal to her audience.

Kelly’s business name is Kelly’s Playhouse. She already has a logo and wants her site to follow the color scheme of her logo, which is hunter green (Figure 1). She’ll need you to register the domain and provide hosting for her Web site. As your firm is small, you’ll have to outsource the hosting of her site. You’ll begin your project by gathering information about the type of site Kelly Zimmerman wants, the audience who would be interested in what she has to offer, and any special requirements.

Figure 1—This is the logo Kelly provides if you use this sample scenario.

PROCEDURE

Part 1: Gathering Information

A. You’re meeting for the first time with your client. Come up with a short agenda for the meeting using the skills you learned in this course.

Save this file as a document named agenda.

B. Come up with a list of 10 to 20 of the most important questions you would ask your clients the first time you meet them.

Save this file as questions.

You can refer to your text for tips on creating an agenda and ideas for some questions you could ask.

Part 2: Determine Web Site Requirements

Imagine that you’ve met with the client and have answers to most of your questions.

Now it’s time to do some research and summarize your find- ings and the information gathered at your meeting into a Web site requirements document. You’ll probably need to search the Web to find information on sites comparable to the one you’re thinking of creating.

Think about the target audience. Think about the site’s competition. Also, remember the top elements visitors expect from Web sites (Figure 2):

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■ Valid, up-to-date content

■ Good navigation features

■ Fast download times

■ Lower price

■ Simplified shopping

■ Entertainment

■ Personalization

■ Security

■ Improved customer service

Figure 2—Visitors often state these reasons for what they expect from Web sites.

Create a Web site requirements document similar to the one on page 182 of your textbook. Be sure to include these elements:

■ The client’s name, your name, the date

■ The purpose of the Web site

■ Features

■ A creative brief

■ Information architecture brief

■ Technical brief

■ SEU brief

■ Other considerations

Save this file as Web site requirements.

Note: You can input data based on what you think a real client would say and what other sites use.

Part 3: Create a Wireframe

Now it’s time to create a wireframe for the home page of your site based on your previous work so far.

Use one of the following methods to create a wireframe for the home page for your site:

■ Using pen and paper to sketch the design that you’ll need to upload electronically later on

■ Using electronic software, such as a trial version of one of the programs mentioned in this course, like Balsamiq, (Figure 3), or even Microsoft Word’s Drawing tools.

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You can refer to your text for a refresher and examples of wireframes.

Save this file as wireframe.

Part 4: Create a Launch Day Checklist

Weeks have gone by and the developers have been working on the project. You’ve been proactive, staying in touch with the developers, clients, and all parties involved so everyone is on the same page.

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FIGURE 3—Balsamiq is one option for you to create a wireframe in. The Web demo is seen here.

Now the time is approaching to launch the site.

Create a launch day checklist on the most important items you would need to address to launch a site such as the one you’re proposing. You can refer to your textbook to see an example.

Save this file as launch checklist.

Part 5: Providing Support

While your site goes through testing, you begin to discuss options for support following the Web site launch with your client.

Write a plan for ongoing support based on how you think your potential client would like support for this project. You can refer to your text for a refresher on types of support.

Save this file as support.

SUBMITTING YOUR PROJECT Congratulations! Now that you’ve completed the Web Project Management graded project, you’re ready to apply all you’ve learned about managing your Web project. All you have left to do with the project is to inspect your completed files one last time and send them to the school for grading.

Inspecting Your Completed Files

Proofread your work.

Check your pages for spelling and grammatical errors.

Your project grade will be based on the accuracy with which you entered the information. Make sure your final project is free of errors, and that you’ve followed the instructions.

Make sure all files are included with your project. Your project should include these items:

■ Agenda

■ Questions

■ Web site requirements

■ Wireframe

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■ Launch checklist

■ Support

Submission Guidelines

Follow this procedure to submit your project online:

1. Log on to the Penn Foster website and go to My Courses.

2. Click on Take Exam next to the lesson you’re working on.

3. Attach your file or files as follows:

a. Click on the Browse box.

b. Locate the file you wish to attach.

c. Double-click on the file.

d. Click on Upload File.

e. If you have more than one file to attach, click on the Browse box again, and repeat steps b, c, and d for each file.

4. Enter your e-mail address in the box provided. (Note: This information is required for online submissions.)

5. If you wish to tell your instructor anything specific regarding this assignment, enter it in the Message box.

6. Click on Submit File.

GRADING CRITERIA Your grade for this project will be based on the following items:

Agenda 10 pts

Questions 10 pts

Web site requirements 30 pts

Wireframe 20 pts

Launch checklist 20 pts

Support 10 pts

Total: 100 pts

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