Building a Shared Vision

Depending on the nature of the project, once approved, a web services team member will contact the project designee, department chair, or director to coordinate a project discovery & kickoff meeting.

Nothing can derail a project quicker than unclear requirements and conflicting goals. That’s why we kick off all our web projects by asking our colleagues to answer some basic questions. This phase of the STEPS has three parts, Project Kickoff Questions, Website SWOT, and common website discovery questions. 

Please complete all three parts prior to your first meeting with web services.

Project Kickoff Questions

These questions act as a template to jumpstart more detailed conversations about project planning, objectives, target audience, and content. Since OTC’s guidelines and standards are consistent across all websites, the answers need not be extremely detailed. Many questions will answer themselves as you review your website.

1. Project Overview

  • Is this project for a website redesign, update, or a completely new creation?
  • If it’s a redesign, could you provide the existing sites’ URLs?
  • What is your desired timeline or target launch date for this project?

2. Strategic Goals and Objectives

  • Could you outline your unit’s communication goals for the next three years?
  • Is this website project part of your unit’s integrated planning requirements? If so, how does it align with your overall strategic plans?
  • What specific outcomes are you aiming to achieve with this web project (e.g., increase engagement, enhance information accessibility, etc.)?
  • Are there particular challenges or issues you want to address with the current website or content?
  • Are there any implicit objectives or expectations we should consider?
  • How will you measure the success of this website project (such as analytics metrics, user feedback, increased interaction, etc.)?

3. Branding and Messaging

  • How does your unit distinguish itself from others within the college and against external competitors?
  • What are the core messages or themes you want your website to communicate?
  • Could upcoming initiatives or changes influence the website’s messaging or content strategy?

4. Collaboration and Communication

  • Who will be this project’s primary contacts or stakeholders, and what will their roles be?
  • What is the preferred method and frequency for updating stakeholders on project progress?

5. Audience Insight

  • What are the primary objectives or tasks your target audience seeks to accomplish on your website?
  • What key messages do you wish to communicate to your audience through the website?
  • What motivates your audience to visit your website, and what are their common questions or concerns?

6. Content Strategy and Management

  • Describe the types of content and business processes your site currently supports (such as forms, databases, and interactive elements).
  • What external data or content does your site integrate (like RSS feeds and databases)?
  • Are there any specific media needs that need to be created or updated, such as photos, videos, or graphical elements?
  • Are there any specific forms or special development needs, such as custom functionalities or third-party integrations, required for this project?
  • How do you plan to maintain and update your website content, considering the ongoing need for fresh and relevant content?

7. Project Execution Team

  • Describe your team’s experience and skills related to:
    • Content creation and editing for the web.
    • Graphic design, image, and video production tailored for online platforms.
    • Managing and updating content in a CMS, such as WordPress.
  • How much time can your team realistically dedicate to this web project every week?

Applying a Website SWOT Analysis Your Unit

SWOT stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. These are the four factors used by organizations to evaluate their business and viability as an enterprise. In a similar way, these factors can be used to evaluate the current and future growth of a website.

swotWebsite SWOT: Strengths

Strengths are internal characteristics. It refers to the advantages that are not present in the sites of your competitors. These are competitive advantages that help your website gain a competitive edge over other similar sites, e.g. relevant and unique content, user-friendly design and quick sign up and check out process, etc. can be the strengths of your website.

The strengths of your unit include:

  1. _________________________
  2. _________________________
  3. _________________________
  4. _________________________

Website SWOT: Weaknesses

As with strengths, weaknesses are internal characteristics for your unit. It refers to the features of your website that slow down your progress or prevents you from achieving your objectives and goals. To identify your website weaknesses, you can compare a feature of your website with the same feature of a competitor’s website. If your competitor executes this feature better than you then consider this feature as your weakness which should be improved.

The weaknesses of your unit are:

  1. _________________________
  2. _________________________
  3. _________________________
  4. _________________________

Website SWOT: Opportunities

Opportunities are external factors that could have a positive impact on the college and your unit. It refers to the external elements which can help you improve your website performance and popularity. These elements are beyond your control and if exploited wisely can help you achieve your objectives and goals. Some of the common opportunities for the websites are new technology to improve visitor experience, web trends focused on social networking, mobile, online transactions, innovative marketing strategies, etc.

The following opportunities for your unit are:

  1. _________________________
  2. _________________________
  3. _________________________
  4. _________________________

 

Website SWOT: Threats

Threats consist of external factors that could undermine your unit’s online presence. It refers to external factors that may prevent a site from achieving its objectives and goals. These factors are beyond your control and if you ignore these threats your website can’t make progress. Some of the common threats to a website include new entrants (websites), software piracy, unfavorable policies, changing student needs, competitors imitating your ideas and features, fraudulent activities, etc.

These include:

  1. _________________________
  2. _________________________
  3. _________________________
  4. _________________________

Common Website Discovery Questions

Below are some common discovery questions you can ask your team, as you review your website redesign.

  1. What’s the primary purpose of our website?
  2. Who is your primary audience?
  3. What is and isn’t working about your current website?
  4. What do you like and dislike about your current site?
  5. What features on your website pertain specifically to your unit?
  6. What functions are absolutely necessary for your website?
  7. What key pieces of info should be available on every single page of your website?
  8. What do you want newcomers to know or do on your site?
  9. What do you want current students’, faculty, or staff to know or do on your site?
  10. How will you measure results?

NOTE: Before 2021, this process was informal, but with the growth of the college and the various website properties, Web Services has formalized the process.