Process 5: Development
(Parallel information and resources about promotion
and innovation
are also available at december.com)
The development process is concerned with publicising the finished
web, but is also concerned with continuously developing and updating
the web and maintaining its information quality.
Publicity
The goals of publicity are to inform potential users of the webs
existence, to attract the interest of the target audience and
to inform current users of new developments within the web. Publicising
takes the form of writing announcements at varying levels of detail,
and releasing them to the appropriate forum.
Timing is an essential aspect of publicity - it is advised that
developers only publicise the web when it is finished. As web
development is a continuous process, when the web is finished
is a subjective opinion. Another timing issue concerns periodic
publicity. After developers have announced the webs existence,
they should only re-announce when major changes have occurred.
The minor changes may be announced in the "What's New"
section of the web.
General Release
A general release reaches a web-wide audience. Performing a general
release may be a key way of reaching the target audience. It is
also a good way of making the webs existence known to people gathering
information for indexes and search engines. Points that developers
should bear in mind are;
- Audience. The target audience defined during the analysis
process is the ideal audience. However, when performing a general
release, developers must be aware that it is reaching a general
web user, and that any announcements must be from a general point
of view, and not specific to the context of the web.
- Etiquette. Developers should take care not to place
a commercial advertisement in a place where the standards of the
web don't allow it. There are many places on the Web that welcome
this, such as market places, "What's New" pages or commercial
mailing lists or newsgroups.
- Related forum. Developers should attempt to make announcements
in the appropriate, related forum. For example, some search-engines
support subject-specific web indexes, and developers should try
to submit their announcement within the correct subject area.
- Description. It is advised that a general web release
is brief and concise, with a link to the top page of the web.
Wording should be carefully thought out, using keywords that will
be of use to automatic web-spiders.
- Outlets. Outlets for general Web releases include;
- Moderated Web forums such as a "What's New" page,
e.g. http://www.directory.net.
- Mailings lists, such as the NewNIR-L List.
- Newsgroups, which may be left to the intuition of the developers,
bearing in mind the rules of etiquette. Alternatively, more general
newsgroups exist, such as comp.infosystemns.www.announce,
which contain announcements of new Web sites or information services.
Focused Release
A focused release is a much more specific release, aimed at the
target audience. The wording of a focused release can be more
elaborate - it's increased detail can engage an audience interested
in the specified field.
Outlets for a focused release include;
- Subject specific indexes, e.g. Yahoo!
- Subject specific newsgroups.
- Subject specific mailing lists.
- Existing Web sites, which may wish to place a link to the
web.
Developers may also consider professional organisations and societies
as a non-Internet outlet for a focused release.
Current Release
A current release informs existing users of changes to the web.
The best method of doing this is to have a "What's New"
page, and a link to this on the top page. The wording of this
can be much more specific, and developers can assume that the
audience has familiarity with the web, and wish to be informed
of new services or features. Developers may feel free to announce
minor changes to the web on this page.
Continuous Development
Developers are advised to keep all the previous web development
processes active. This will ensure that the web is kept up to
date, and remains a dynamic, flexible information source.
Developers are also advised to keep abreast of general developments
which would be of use to the web. This includes items such as;
- Being aware of new, appropriate publicity outlets,
where developers may advertise their webs existence.
- Keeping informed of competitors or similar webs and
how they work. If appropriate, developers may wish to collaborate
with other webs.
- Keeping informed of the activities of the audience.
This may include societies, journals, trade shows, conventions
or Internet resources. The interests of the audience may change
and the audience may become involved in new developments.
- Building a reputation for quality. If developers continuously
review the processes and elements of the web, it is likely that
users will recognise the webs quality, comprehensiveness and service.
This contributes to good publicity.
Maintaining Information Quality
Information quality, as discussed in "How is
this Resolved?",
is defined as correct, accessible, usable, understandable and
meaningful. Methods of maintaining the quality of the information
served on the web include;
- Usability testing. Users are observed using the web
and usability problems can be drawn from this. Note, this may
be difficult if the web is aimed at a global audience - in-house,
'company' webs are easier to observe.
- Feedback. If a register of users is available, a survey
may be sent to all or a random selection of users. Alternatively,
an on-line form may also be set-up, an example, of
which, I
have mirrored from december.com. Note, both these methods of feedback
may generate biases, due to the fact that feedback is obtained
only from users who have chosen to offer feedback. This
may not offer a true representation of users.
- Iterative Analysis. This method involves asking the
questions posed during the analysis process. This
is a
good way of checking the overall integrity of the web, and developers
and analysts may improve on these points or add more web-specific
points.