Do You Plan Your Sites Out On Paper?

[Lee]

So im in the middle of a really complex site right now, using a range of different methods to filter and target the surfers that im going to be sending to this site and it dawned on me that i used to map things like this out on paper before actually starting working on them however, this time i havent done and really wish i had.

Do you folks plan sites out on paper before implementing them first or do you just go with the flow of things as they happen?

So far, ive spent about 45 minutes on this and its looking like im going to have to go back to the start and plan this sucker out on paper before building any of the pages.

Regards,

Lee

[robin]

You betcha. Mapping it all out on paper really helps me out in planning and development, shows the flow of thing, etc...

Just makes things more clear and defined.

[davespeedoevans]

Lee,

I've scratched a few initial designs because they haven't worked out. I've even scratched a few designs after everything was finished as I just could get the right feel.

I'm working on some redesigns now and I do a fair bit on paper. I'm learning (slowly) not to be afraid of scraping a design attempt. I suppose on those simple preview sites photoshopping it is OK but anything more complex an my head can't get around it.

Good luck.

[Bec]

I find it much easier to design once I have a solid idea on paper on how the navigation and content relate to each other. I'll look at other sites, see how categories are handled, review what I know I have and want to include and adjust where I think certain things should group based on relativity and what I want to be dominant on the site.

[longboardjim]

there are times i feel i'm the only one that works things out on paper! , i've actually been in bars/resturaunts and jotted things down on napkins ( okay so some of the notes are guys phone numbers! )

sincerely ~ ..."in the time it takes you to locate your calculator , i will have solved the problem"... :goof:

[EonFilms_Rocky]

I am an atrist, so I draw everythign out meticulously, then I have arres and graphs for what each button does (ie, mouseover, etc) and where it links, plus the linking directions and sometimes even the linking code.

I am notrious for that, and should probably seek some type of help for my neurotic behavior.

Once, on a plane ride from internext florida back to San Digo, I wrote out an entire html page by hand on a pad of lined paper so that I would know what to type out when I got home.

I also storyboard the scripts for our movies...

:wacko:

Rocky

[robin]

Once, on a plane ride from internext florida back to San Digo, I wrote out an entire html page by hand on a pad of lined paper so that I would know what to type out when I got home.

Hee Hee -- I've done that a couple of times.

I also storyboard the scripts for our movies...

And so you should. I once worked on a short film where the director didn't bother with a storyboard, a break down sheet, or very much else -- it was all in his head -- what a cluster fuck!

[gaystoryman]

Geez, I have to be an odd duck, cause rarely do I plan out a site on paper, heck I don't even plan out my stories other than character names, stats, and just more or less wind up winging it as I go.

That being said, I do follow a set pattern for navigation, as to me that is always the key to a site's potential for success. If the customer can't find stuff, ain't gonna sell it, but as to the actual layouts, I rarely set it down on paper.

I will select colors, and type of navigation I am going to use, and variations of the colors, but that's it...

:coffee:

[joneze]

I do a mental picture of what I want and follow that.

I'd just lose a piece of paper.

[basschick]

paper? what's that?

[padda00]

I don't remember how to hold a writing utensil...:wtf:

[basschick]

honestly although i plan facts about the sites on paper sometimes, working on the computer brings out my creativity far more than writing on paper. i don't know why that is, but i'm at my best in front of a keyboard and monitor.