Finding Your Idea
Hopefully you already have an idea of what you'd like to create. Also hopefully, the idea you have is pretty specific and not just a general overview. This isn't to say that you should have every little detail planned out right from the start, but the more clearly defined your idea and message the easier it will be for the rest of the design process.
I like to start by asking myself a few questions:
- What will the site be about (in general)?
- Who is the target audience?
- How can I convey this information to my audience effectively?
The last question will lead us into the next phase of the design process, but we'll start from the top.
What will the general context of the site be about?
Our tutorial will focus on the basics of HTML, and how to convey that through a website. That is, the site we're creating will cover the various HTML tags and their uses. I feel this is a great way to learn HTML, because it forces you to be aware of the different tags and you get real-world practice using them. We'll call this site HTML for Beginners.
Who is the target audience?
Once you have a general overview of the site, it's time to figure out what type of audience you want to address. You may be thinking, "It's the web. I want to reach everyone." While this is an admirable goal, there has to be a smaller audience you want to reach regardless of anyone else who visits the site. This is your core audience, the visitors you want to see the site and keep coming back for more.
HTML for Beginners has the audience built into the title. Its main goal is to provide a very easy, step-by-step tutorial for anyone interested in the basics of HTML. It won't get into anything advanced, as there are other more detailed tutorials for that, but it will get anyone up to speed with the tags and techniques that ALL html coders should know.
How can I convey this information to my audience effectively?
Lastly, we need to decide how to effectively communicate these ideas. HTML for Beginners is an informative site that should ultimately have a "professional" layout, one that evokes the reference nature of the site. There are plenty of various layouts to choose from and still have it be a great looking site, but a few are more tailored to the kind of information we'd like to present.