I’m about to start building new start-up so i need some guidelines from you.
What’s the best way to plan a website? I don’t think like “first design, then the database relations, then start development”, but “how to plan the way application is going to work”?
Are there some proven methods, like THE best way to do website ‘blueprints’, like with some tool or something?
I need as much feedback as you people can give me, this is really important to me.
Links, experiences, everything is welcome =)
I’d like some tool to be able to draw the process like
page
– if logged in – do that
– if not logged in – do that 2
Write it down. On a piece of paper. Draw lines between the related parts.
Rinse and repeat as necessarily.
I’m serious. Tools, fancy diagrams, flowcharts, all look pretty for management, but they get in the way of actually understanding how your app is going to work. If it’s so complex you can’t get it all on a couple sheets of paper, do a big picture view and then do each sub-section.
If you can get a HUGE whiteboard or piece of butcher paper, it’s even better. For some reason, having a large space to work on is fantastic for working things out.