"Three days of programming can save you hours of planning."
The planning and design stage of a program are the most important parts. If you plan well, the development process will proceed faster. Poor planning or a lack of planning, can cause a lot of re-writes and re-coding. The Design Document is the second part of the planning process. It includes the collection of media, web page storyboards, the development of a directory and file structure and the careful consideration of data needs and storage.
Parts of a Design Document
- Project Description: A brief overview of how the project will operate/appear including information about: User Interactions, Style, Navigation, Features, & Delivery Platform.
- Directory Listing/Sitemap: A list of all files/pages to be used in the site with a brief description of the file. This can be presented in a visual format or in an outline format.
- Flow Charts (if necessary): If users must proceed in a given order, a flow chart may be useful as well.
- Content/Media:All content for each user page in an editable form. Additionally, all images for the site should be gathered, named and organized during this time.
- Storyboards:Minimally, this includes a screenshot of what each user page will look like. In addition, teams would benefit from including other information such as files that need to be included and other notes helpful in development.
- Database Design:This document should include all databases, table names, field names and types. Be sure to identify primary and foreign keys.