Developing Effective Websites: A Project Manager's Guide Roy Strauss 9780240804439

Is your website project out of control?

Every website project needs a manager. Developing Effective Websites describes Internet technologies in plain language and helps you see beyond your expertise to the big picture. It does this by drawing on established software project and management principles.

Like any project, effective management of website development starts by understanding and balancing the constraints of time, resources, and tasks. You can deliver your project on time and on budget, by following a process that includes:

* Analyzing the requirements of users and your market
* Developing a workplan for the site and breaking it down to tasks
* Scheduling with Gantt and PERT charts and measuring slippage for more accurate revisions
* Estimating cost by the budget-first or design-first methods
* Using the team development process and covering all the necessary roles
* Aligning contractor and client interests to create a win-win relationship
* Following an iterative development process for designing, prototyping, and building out
* Applying software testing principles to website development
* Making hosting decisions and planning for maintenance

Roy Strauss is a project manager of websites and multimedia projects, with over 15 years' experience developing Internet and CD-ROM applications for training and promotional purposes. His background includes new media development for Rand McNally, Encyclopaedia Britannica, and Commodore Computers. He is currently President of Cedar Interactive (Deerfield, IL), where he manages websites and other interactive media projects.
Patrick Hogan is editorial director for the American Library Association's book publishing imprint. He has been both a client and project manager for web-based projects of the association. He is also a freelance writer on topics of business and information technology and coauthor of two books.