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The strategy phase is most crucial
for ensuring a successful fulfillment of project goals as
it helps create relevant web experiences for key audiences.
Without a strategy, the site may fail to fully engage the
intended target audiences.
Strategy begins with research. A
study of the web presence created by other related organizations,
corporations, and educational institutions will further
familiarize AITG with the industry and the specific place
our client holds within it. This assessment will highlight
the best sites relating to a given subject area, some other
competitor sites worth noting for either the robustness
or uniqueness, and what other opportunities or challenges
lie ahead.
Next, the goals and brand promise
will be identified and studied against the user's intents,
context, and needs. This user-centric approach is important
otherwise the visit will be like a bad conversation; the
site telling the audience everything it wants them to hear
without regard for what the audience wants to hear from
the site, when, and in what way.
The findings of this study will
make up the Experience Architecture. Experience Architecture
connects the needs of each targeted audience segment with
the clients' goals and helps generate audience appropriate
initiatives to meet those goals. The Experience Architecture
enables the clients' mission and brand promise to become
part of a meaningful experience.
The initiatives generated by the
Experience Architecture will then form the basis of the
Information Architecture of the site, that is, the strategic
prioritization, organization, and mapping of all information
and features throughout the site. The location of each feature
or piece of information reflects it's value, role, and relevance
to the user experience. All decisions of content location
and taxonomy are thereby directly driven by the clients'
brand and goals. The Information Architecture is delivered
as a site map and wire-frame site model. The wire-frame
illustrates the content and informational hierarchy of each
page without designed graphics. This separation of creative
expression and organizational science is extremely important.
This allows the client to preview and approve the site flow
and prioritization of content and features before any graphic
design treatment begins. It also allows for a more informed
evaluation and critique of the design pages to come in the
next phase.
Overall, the Strategy phase provides
translation of specific user experiences into tactical steps
focused on meeting the goals of the client. Once the client
and AITG reach alignment around the Experience and Information
Architecture, the design phase can begin.
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