Today there are a lot of organizations that are "putting GIS data on the web" or "putting maps on the web". The question is why? Many of these web sites are hard to use and may not even have anyone that really wants to use them. Some of these cost millions of dollars to create and most did never actually created something that ended up on the web and many disappear quickly.
The idea of "user-centered" design is to start with user first. We define who the user's are and even give them names, jobs, and tasks that they would want to do with the web site. It is best if they represent real users and if some of them are the folks that are funding you. Then, we defined the "tasks" they want to perform while visiting your web site. These tasks can be generalizations of tasks from multiple users but they should come directly from the real users. The next step is to create "paper-prototypes" of how the web site will work. These are simply pieces of paper that you draw the web pages on. Lay these out on a table and see if the user can walk through the defined tasks. Ask if you can simplify the web site for the most common tasks. Make sure all tasks that are required are also represented. Don't miss login pages and pages for when they forget their password if needed. Also, the sponsors often want to see information that is not available to most users such as usage statistics.
After the paper prototypes are reviewed with the real users and sponsors, then you create the web site. This saves a great deal of rework on the web site. The web site is then tested by the developers and then a increasingly broad range of users. Each time, defects are fixed and the web pages are redesigned until the web site is "good enough" to be released to the world.
The first step is to define the users and rank them by how important they are. Your users should include the most common and most important. Often this is someone trying to get work done and the later is someone that you work for. For at least 3 users, define:
Rank the importance of each user.
The next step is to define the task each user is going to perform. Include:
Rank each of the tasks by importance based on how important the user is, how critical the task is to them, and how often they perform the task.
Now, take sheets of paper and create drawings of your web pages. Lay them out and draw arrows for how the user would accomplish each task. Edit the pages (feel free to throw some away and create new ones) until you feel you have a good solution for the users to complete their most critical tasks.
Finally! It is time to create the web site. Don't worry about it being perfect as it will change anyway. Get the pages up and running and then get them in front of others for testing. The initial testers should be people who are close to you and will understand the web site is not finished but that you need feedback. This is referred to as "alpha" testing. Then, make changes and improvements until it is ready for "beta testing".
Beta testing is when you release the web site to folks outside your close knit group. This should include the sponsors and key users but not the entire world. Also make sure you test it with all the popular browsers and on all popular operating systems. Linux can be testing on a Mac or a PC with a virtual machine but you are going to have to have at least one IBM-PC compatible computer and one Mac computer available for testing.
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