As part of an overall consultancy role within ZSEA (Zoological Society for East Anglia) their website needed an overhaul and I was part of the website project management team.
Working closely with the external digital agency the team produced a series of wireframes and development documents in order to consult with as many internal stakeholders to make sure the content would be correct and easily updatable.
The website project management team undertook a period of reflection and research to firstly establish the platform on which the website was to be built. The previous websites were build in WordPress, which has it’s merits, but was seen as unsuitable for the scope of the new project. One major aspect was to have the ability to run three websites, ZSEA, Africa Alive and Banham Zoo but have a single area controlling all membership information, purchases and tickets. In order to achieve this, ZSEA employed a digital agency with it’s own CMS system capable of producing websites within a template system, but still had the capacity for expansion. Given the size of the investment, it was important that the new platform and website infrastructure had the ability to be quickly changed allowing reskins for seasonal promotions and any future changes in strategy.
Above shows some of the wireframes produced in order to communicate the structure the different departments within the organisation. These were then used to build a development site which the website project management team explored the best way to display the information.
Website Project Management
There are real benefits in having a freelance website designer as part of the development team. We are problem solvers and have the ability to explain ideas and concepts to those who are not visual thinkers. Using wireframes and sketches, often on paper during the meetings dramatically speed up understanding and development time as decisions are made a lot quicker. We also understand the corporate visual strategy and can steer decisions ensuring that overall visual style is consistent.
An remember, the best thing about using a freelancer is we can drop in and out of the project when needed. If you have an upcoming website project you think needs the input of a creative visual thinker, then please get in touch.
